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CO WHIG HT DEPOSOi 




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* 












Josie O’Gorman 

and the 

Meddlesome Major 
















































* 













i 2 * 


• * 











































- 









The package tore and disclosed a mass of filmy 
lace.—Chapter VII 













Josie O’Gorman 

and the 

Meddlesome Major 


By 

Edith Van Dyne 

Author of 

The Mary Louise Stories, 
and Josie O’Gorman 



Frontispiece by 

Isabel Bush Mack 


The Reilly 8C Lee Co. 
Chicago 


> > > 






Printed in the United States of America 


?Zi 

\I2A% 


Copyright, 1924 
by 

The Reilly & Lee Co. 


AH Rights Reserved 



Josie O’Gorman and the Meddlesome Major 


AUG -2 1924 

©C1A800332 





CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGB 

I Josie Becomes a Sales Girl. 7 

II The New Homb on Meadow Street 19 

III The Neighbors in Apartment 3... 31 

IV Josie's Little Black Book. 44 

V The Major Takes Up a Trail. 54 

VI Too Many Detectives . 67 

VII The Meddlesome Major Calls. 79 

VIII Mary Keeps the Faith. 87 

IX Who Is Miss Fauntleroy?. 98 

X “The Watermelons Have Come”. . 109 
XI Mrs. Leslie Won to the Cause. ... 118 
XII A Boarding House Hero. 129 

XIII Jimmy Blaine Gets a Scoop. 141 

XIV The Quarrel Next Door . 151 

XV Josie Sets a Trap . 160 

XVI Mrs. Leslie Turns Detective. 171 

XVII The Girl in the Red Tam . 182 

XVIII Josie 0 ’Gorman’s Victory . 191 


























/ 




% 















i 







Josie and the Meddlesome 
Major 


CHAPTER I 

JOSIE BECOMES A SALES GIRL 

“ Not much on looks! ” 

“ Who? ” 

“ That new girl the boss has just hired. Got 
no style to speak of. I reckon they’ll begin her 
at the notion counter. It don’t take much looks 
to hold down a job there. ” 

4 ‘ Brains, perhaps!” suggested a trim looking 
girl with twinkling grey eyes and wavy brown 
hair, noticeable in that it was not so elaborately 
coiffured as her companions’. “My opinion is, 
Gertie Wheelan, that Mr. Burnett thinks more 
about brains than beauty where his business is 
concerned. ” 

“ Don’t you fool yourself, Jane Morton. He 
may hire a plain one now and then because the 
7 


8 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

good lookers give out, but take it from me, there 
ain’t a man livin’ that don’t fall for beauty. ” 

“Well, since you are already so pretty, Gertie, 
suppose you give us folks that run to brains a 
chance to doll up a bit. You’ve been standing in 
front of that looking glass for ten minutes and 
luneh hour’s most up, ” said a stylish little black- 
eyed girl who might have laid claim to beauty as 
well as wit. 

“ Stop shoving me, Min, ” begged Gertie. 
“ Here, get in front of me. I can see over your 
head, you are such a little thing. ” 

“I’m young yet,” snapped back Min. “ By 
the time I am as old as you are I may grow 
some. ” 

Age was Gertie’s tender point and Min’s sally 
drew a delighted laugh from the girls assembled 
in the employees’ room of the department store 
of Burnett & Burnett. 

While they were talking and laughing and 
primping a young girl quietly entered the room, 
so quietly that she had removed her hat and 
wrap and put them away in the locker room before 
the group around the mirror was even aware of 
her presence. It was the new girl and Gertie 
Wheelen was right—she was not much on looks, 


Josie Becomes a Sales Girl 9 

even less than that according to the standards of 
the employees of Burnett & Burnett. She was 
small, sandy haired, and her features, while not 
displeasing, were without distinction; eyes pale 
blue and nose more or less shapeless. Her mouth 
showed character and her teeth were white and 
even. Her complexion was good, being clear and 
healthy with a sprinkling of freckles over the 
formless nose. 

Gertie was wrong about the lack of style. Josie 
O’Gorman, while not modish, had style; a style 
that was all her own. She managed by arrange¬ 
ment of hair and cut of gown to look enough like 
other persons to pass unnoticed in a crowd, and 
yet Josie’s dress changed but little with the pass¬ 
ing fashions and her intimate friends declared 
that the only alteration of hair dressing she ever 
indulged in was to show her ears or not show her 
ears according to the latest decree of fashion. 
Her dress was always immaculate and always the 
same—in the winter, blue serge with white col¬ 
lars and cuffs for the day, and white canton crepe 
trimmed with lace for evening; in the summer 
blue linen took the place of the blue serge and 
the canton crepe gave way to white linen or or¬ 
gandy. Her immaculate state was due to the 


10 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

fact that she had many gowns of the same model 
and innumerable collars and cuffs which she al¬ 
ways laundered herself. 

“ That’s her now, ” said Gertie as she caught 
a glimpse of the new girl in the mirror over Min’s 
head. 

“She! ” corrected Jane Morton. “ The last 
lecture on salesmanship laid especial stress on the 
importance of good English. ” 

Josie bowed politely and smiled pleasantly hut 
impersonally at the girls. 

“ How do you do! ” said Jane. “ I hope you 
will like Burnett & Burnett’s. It is really a great 
place to work. I want to introduce you to the 
girls. ” 

“ Glad to meet all of you—my name’s Josie 
O’Gorman. ” 

“ Where are you to begin? ” asked Gertie. 

“ Tapes, darning cotton and the like. ” 

“ What did I tell you? ” Gertie whispered aud¬ 
ibly to Min. 

“ It is a good counter,” said Min. “It’s in the 
middle of the store where you can see everything 
that goes on. I tell you a lot is going on here 
lately—more ‘kleps’ have been busy. I’ve been 
working for Burnett & Burnett ever since I was 


Josie Becomes a Sales Girl 11 

a kid and I know they have lost more in the last 
month than they have since I was a cash girl. 
Seems like things just vanish. It certainly made 
me hot when that box of point lace just disap¬ 
peared off the face of the earth. I wish Mr. Bur¬ 
nett would take me away from the lace counter 
and put me over with the safety pins. Nobody 
ever bothers to steal safety pins from a shop but 
just borrows them from friends. ” 

Josie laughed and decided she was going to 
like little Min and Jane Morton. 

“Do you think somebody stole the whole box 
of point lace? '' Josie asked. 

“ No I don't think it — I know it. One minute 
it was there and the next minute it wasn't there. 
I reported it the second that I missed it and Ma¬ 
jor Simpson, the detective, got busy right off but 
it was remnant day and the store was packed and 
jammed with bargain hunters and that lace was 
gone and gone for good. I sure did feel bad about 
it. I had to go up to the office and answer a mil¬ 
lion questions and before they got through with 
me I felt like I had swallowed the stuff and it was 
choking me. There was about five hundred dol¬ 
lars worth of lace in that box. " 

“Well how'd you like to be me and have some 


12 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

woman walk off with a whole bottle of perfume at 
ten dollars an ounce? ” asked Gertie. “ Old Bur¬ 
nett was sniff in y around me so any body’d a 
thought I’d taken a bath in the stuff. I just 
howled and cried to beat the band. I made so 
much racket it took six floor walkers and the boss 
to pacify me and they finally sent me home in a 
taxi. I reckon the next time a thief gets busy at 
the toilet goods counter they won’t call on me 
to testify. ” 

“ Your tears cost ten dollars an ounce, do 
they? ” laughed Josie. 

“ Exactly! ” 

“ I fawncy the thief is someone from the out¬ 
side,” drawled a girl who had hitherto been silent 
and who had been introduced to Josie as Miss 
Fauntleroy either because Jane Morton did not 
know her first name or did not care to use it. Miss 
Fauntleroy was a very striking looking young 
woman, tall, slender, and broad shouldered; a de¬ 
cided brunette with wonderfully arched brows and 
lashes long enough to marcel, at least so her co¬ 
workers at Burnett & Burnett’s declared. Her 
blue-black hair was done after the latest mode, 
with waves and puffs and ringlets galore and 
never a lock out of place even after the strenuous 


Josie Becomes a Sales Girl 


13 


ordeal of bargain day. Her voice was a deep 
contralto with a slightly foreign intonation, 
although she had divulged to Min that she was 
born in Hoboken, New Jersey, and intimated that 
she had cultivated the drawl and accent because 
she considered it elegant. 

Of course Min had handed this informa¬ 
tion on to her best friends and it had become com¬ 
mon property at the department store that Miss 
Fauntleroy was not near so mysterious as she 
would have one think. Her hands and feet were 
large but her shoes were stylishly cut and her 
nails showed much care and attention. She 
walked with a slow swinging gait and seemed 
never to be in a hurry, even when closing hour 
was approaching. Sse had proven herself an effi¬ 
cient saleswoman in the jewel and novelty depart¬ 
ment. 

Josie 0’Gorman’s ostensible business at Bur¬ 
nett & Burnett’s was the selling of tapes and 
darning cotton, and so ably did she play the part 
of shop girl that no one but her employers 
dreamed she was there for any other purpose. 
There was nothing in the girl’s appearance to in¬ 
dicate that she was the cleverest detective of her 
age and sex in the United States. 


14 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

Shop lifting had developed into a serious mat¬ 
ter in the department store of Burnett & Burnett, 
so serious that they had found it necessary to call 
in outside help on their detective force. Up to 
this time the detective force had been more or 
less of a farce since it was what the younger 
member of the firm, Mr. Theodore Burnett, desig¬ 
nated as an inherited failing, one handed down 
from father to son to grandsons. The “ force ” 
consisted of one old gentleman known as Major 
Simpson. 

“ I’m not saying poor old Simpson is not a 
good man, as good as they make them,” Mr. Theo¬ 
dore Burnett said to Josie when she reported to 
the firm in regard to entering their employ. 

“ Good man but poor detective,” put in the 
elder brother, Mr. Charles Burnett. “ See here, 
Miss 0’Gorman, we’ve got you over here from 
Dorfield because Captain Lonsdale has recom¬ 
mended you so highly. I fancy there are detec¬ 
tives right here in our own city of Wakely that 
could do the business for us but you understand 
we don’t want poor old Simpson to know we are 
employing outside help. He is very touchy— ” 

“ And very conceited! ” interrupted Mr. Theo¬ 
dore. 


Josie Becomes a Sales Girl 15 

“ Be that as it may, we don’t want to hurt his 
feelings as he has been with the firm from the be¬ 
ginning. My grandfather stated in his will that 
Major Simpson should have a job with us as long 
as he wanted it and after that was to be pen¬ 
sioned.” 

“ But the old duck refuses to be pensioned al¬ 
though we offered to pay him more for not work¬ 
ing than for working,” laughed Mr. Theodore. 

“ I rather like that in him,” said Josie. “ But 
now to come down to what you want me to do. As 
I understand it I am to be employed by you se¬ 
cretly and you are to turn me loose, giving me 
carte blanche as to my methods.” 

“ Ahem! ” hesitated Mr. Charles, who had his 
own idea about how everything connected with 
the department store should be run. ‘ ‘ N-n-ot ex¬ 
actly. 9 9 

“ Of course you are to work it your own way,” 
put in Theodore. “ My brother just means he’d 
take it as a favor if you report to us now and 
then . 9 9 

“ Naturally! Well then, in the first place per¬ 
haps I had better have another name to start with 
as somebody may know my true name. Not be¬ 
cause of my own reputation as a detective—I have 


16 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

none to speak of—but because of my father's. 
Perhaps you are aware of the fact that my father 
was one of the most able detectives in America, 
and that means the world, because we are up with 
the French and ahead of the Russians in the de¬ 
tective business." 

The Burnetts did not know it but they had the 
tact to pretend they did, so Josie's one tender 
point was spared a jab. Mary Smith was agreed 
upon as a good working name and the notion 
counter as a fair vantage point from which to 
view the comings and goings of possible shop¬ 
lifters. 

“ I should like a list of the names and ad¬ 
dresses of all your employees," suggested Josie. 

“ Certainly, Miss O’Gorman," agreed the 
brothers. 

“ Smith! Just forget my name is O'Gorman, 
please." 

“ Oh, sure! Miss Smith! " 

At this juncture there came a light knock on the 
door and without waiting for permission a dapper 
little old gentleman entered the private office of 
the president. Josie decided that the new comer 
was as pompous in the back as he was in the front 
and when he seated himself stiffly in a high backed 


Josie Becomes a Sales Girl 17 

chair she came to the conclusion that he had 
achieved something which she had hitherto con¬ 
sidered impossible—for a person to be as pom¬ 
pous sitting down as standing up. Evidently there 
was no doubt in the old gentleman’s mind that he 
was a more important personage than either the 
president or vice-president of Burnett & Bur¬ 
nett’s. As for the little sandy haired shop girl, 
who was no doubt being employed by the firm— 
she was of no importance whatsoever. 

“ I wish to speak with you alone, Mr. Charles. 
Of course Mr. Theodore may remain if he so de¬ 
sires, but—” he looked meaningly at Josie, 
i ‘others may retire. New girl, I presume.” 

“ Yes — let me introduce you to Miss O’Gor¬ 
man, Major Simpson,” said the senior member 
of the firm. 

“ Smith,” hastily corrected the junior member. 
Major Simpson did not hear the correction and 
Josie was registered on the tablets of the old gen¬ 
tleman’s memory as O’Gorman and O’Gorman 
she was forced to remain, since it was deemed 
wiser not to take the present incumbent of house 
detective into their confidence and being intro¬ 
duced by one name and employed by another 
would certainly have caused suspicion. 


18 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

“ I am sorry Brother Charles made the break,’’ 
Theodore said as he accompanied Josie to the ele¬ 
vator, leaving his brother alone with Major Simp¬ 
son. 

“ Oh, that’s all right,” laughed Josie. “ I’m 
not much on aliases anyhow and really prefer 
working in my own name. Please let me have the 
list of employees and their addresses as soon as 
possible.” 


CHAPTER n 


THE NEW HOME ON MEADOW STREET 

Wakely classed itself as a city, while Dorfield 
was content to be listed as a mere town that might 
someday grow up. In spite of its size, Wakely 
seemed to onr young detective to he a very lone¬ 
some place on that first Sunday she was compelled 
to spend away from all her dear friends in Dor- 
field, where she had lived since her father’s death. 
There were plenty of people in Wakely, too many 
people, in fact, making the housing problem a 
serious one. But nobody knew Josie and nobody 
cared to know her. Nobody paid the least atten¬ 
tion to her at the beautiful old church where she 
had gone to worship in the morning; nobody 
spoke to her at the clean little restaurant where 
she had eaten her Sunday dinner; and now as 
she sat on a bench in the city park, nobody in all 
the surging throngs out for the usual Sunday 
stroll even so much as glanced her way. 

Josie was not inclined to be lonesome. She was 
too interested in people and things to think very 
19 


20 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

much of her own aloneness, but there were times 
when in spite of herself she felt a crying need for 
a real home of her own; something more than the 
partitioned off rear end of a shop, which was 
where she had been living for some time before 
coming to Wakely. The place was called The 
Higgledy Piggledy Shop, conducted by Josie and 
her friends Elizabeth Wright and Irene Mac Far- 
lane, and they had managed it to their profit and 
to the delectation of the citizens of Dorfield, who 
found in it a long felt want. 

If the Higgledy Piggledies did not have what 
you wanted they would get it for you, and if they 
could not do what you wished done they would 
see to it that someone else did do it. For Josie 
the shop was in reality a side line of the detec¬ 
tive business, but it was of great interest to her 
and she missed the gay chatter of the partners, 
the daily visits of her dear Mary Louise—young 
Mrs. Danny Dexter—and she sorely missed the 
kindly interest and advice of Captain Charlie 
Lonsdale, the Chief of Police of Dorfield. He it 
was who had so highly recommended Josie to Bur¬ 
nett & Burnett. 

“ I almost wish he hadn’t,” sighed Josie as 
she sat on the park bench in the wintry sunshine 


The New Home On Meadow Street 21 

and watched the people of Wakely swarm past. 

* 6 1 don’t care much who steals the stupid old dry- 
goods. It’s a dull job and I’d be glad to be out 
of it.” 

“ Hello! There’s somebody I know—but who 
on earth is it? Where have I seen that boy be¬ 
fore? Certainly I don’t remember ever having 
laid eyes on his companions, rare birds that they 
are! ” 

Many persons pride themselves on never for¬ 
getting a face, but Josie might have patted her¬ 
self on the back for never forgetting a pair of 
shoulders, a set of head, a contour of cheek or 
chin. However, she was completely baffled by the 
youth who had passed her as she sat on the hard, 
cold bench. Our little detective was irritated that 
she could not remember where she had seen that 
turn of cheek and line of shoulder, so irritated 
that she decided the seat in the park was very un¬ 
comfortable and she would trail along behind the 
trio and find out something about them. Her 
curiosity was idle but was it not Sunday after¬ 
noon? Why not let curiosity be idle as well as 
persons? 

The man and woman walking with the youth 
appeared too young to be the father and mother 


22 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

of the boy and too old to be brother and sister, 
yet there was an intangible resemblance to both 
that led Josie to conclude they were his parents. 
The man was swarthy, black-eyed, and flashily 
dressed in a checked suit, gray spats and a brown 
derby. He walked with a slight swagger, twirling 
a slender cane in his lemon colored gloved hand. 

The woman was small, inclined to be stout, and 
a great mop of henna colored hair elaborately 
dressed in waves and puffs defied oversight and 
invited scrutiny. She wore a handsome fur cloak 
and a purple velvet hat. Her cheeks and lips were 
tinted a bright coral and her nose was powdered 
like a marshmallow. In spite of the paint and 
powder there was something youthful and attrac¬ 
tive about the woman. She walked with a light 
step and had a gay bird-like manner. 

The younger man, or boy—he looked about 
eighteen, Josie decided—had an elegance that his 
companions lacked, although they would have been 
greatly astonished had they been told that the 
quiet unimportant little person, whom they had 
passed in the park and who later had passed them 
on the sidewalk, considered them anything but the 
last cry of elegance and fashion. Josie was able 
to get a good look at the trio at a crossing. TJn- 


The New Home On Meadow Street 23 

doubtedly the boy was the son of the bizarre 
couple. He had his father's bold black eyes and 
his mother's delicate tilted nose and softly 
rounded cheek. 

“ Where—where have I seen him before? " 
Josie asked herself. “ Never mind, I'll remem¬ 
ber some day. In the meantime I think I'll find 
out where they live—not that it is any of my busi¬ 
ness—but one never can tell when information 
will come in handy in this business of detecting 
criminals. Anyhow I don't trust those two, al¬ 
though I reckon the boy is all right. He looks too 
young to be anything else but all right and he 
looks honest, at least he looks honest in contrast 
to his father. My opinion is that the old one is in 
checks now but has been in stripes, or should have 
been. I wonder what they do. People, I'll bet 
anything, and they do them brown while they are 
about it." 

Josie stopped to look in a window in order to 
let the trio get ahead of her and then nonchal¬ 
antly followed them at a safe distance. They 
talked animatedly and their gestures were de¬ 
cidedly foreign-like in their swift and jerky repeti¬ 
tion. It was impossible for Josie to catch what 
they were saying without seeming too interested 


24 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

in them, but it was easy to see that both man and 
woman were endeavoring to pacify the youth and 
persuade him to do something to which he was 
opposed. Once he stopped short on the sidewalk 
and Josie came within earshot as the boy said 
in a tone of suppressed violence: 

“ I tell you Pm sick of the whole game. I’m 
going to quit! ” 

“ Oh, Roy, darling, not just now,” purred the 
woman, and Josie noted that the R in Roy and 
darling was softly rolled, giving a slightly foreign 
accent. “ Not now when— ” but the woman whis¬ 
pered the rest and the listener could not hear what 
was the big reason for not quitting just yet, nor 
could she gather what the game was that Roy 
wanted to quit. 

The man said nothing, merely stood gnawing 
his moustache in a manner highly melodramatic 
and cut the air viciously with his slender cane. 
Josie loitered after them, wondering what part 
of the city they lived in, what they did for a liv¬ 
ing, and in the back of her brain was always the 
question: “ Where have I seen the boy before? ” 

Josie was stopping for the time being at a 
hotel, though she realized it would never do for 
it to be known that a shop girl was living so ex- 


The New Home On Meadow Street 25 

travagantly. Early in life Josie O’Gorman had 
learned from her illustrious father that in the de¬ 
tective business no detail was too small to be 
overlooked. If one was supposed to be a shop 
girl then one must live, eat, dress, act and talk 
like a shop girl. After three days at Burnett & 
Burnett’s Josie had come to the conclusion that 
shop girls were like any other wage earning girls, 
some silly, some clever; some educated, some ig¬ 
norant ; some inclined to put all their earnings on 
their backs, some saving up for a rainy day; but 
none of them were able to live in hotels. So, to 
play the part, she must bestir herself and find 
other quarters. The firm was paying her hand¬ 
somely for her time and she could well afford to 
keep her comfortable room and bath. She was 
tempted to do it and give a false address if any 
of the girls should ask her where she lived but 
she remembered one of her father’s favorite 
sayings : 

“ Oh, what a tangled web we weave 
When first we practice to deceive.” 

This old saying had decided the matter for her 
and on that Sunday afternoon she had armed her¬ 
self with clippings from the “ Boarders Wanted ” 
column in the morning paper and was determined 


26 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

to go the rounds and settle herself as soon as 
possible. The trio she was following turned the 
corner. Josie turned after them. Glancing at 
the street sign she read that she was on Meadow 
Street. Several of the ads were on Meadow 
Street. She ran quickly through them. 

The man, woman and youth went in at No. 11. 
It was a shabby, drab looking apartment house. 
Yes, there was a room for rent in that very 
house—“ Widow and daughter wish to rent room 
to young business woman. 11 East Meadow, 
apartment 4.” 

Josie had liked the ad from the beginning. 
“ They don’t flaunt their own refinement in their 
ad and they say business woman instead of busi¬ 
ness lady. They delicately inform the public that 
there is no brute of a husband around. On the 
whole I believe I’ll rent a room at 11 East Mea¬ 
dow. I can keep my eye on those flashy folk if 
I do. I suppose it’s none of my business—but 
one never can tell. ’ ’ 

Josie noticed that the interesting trio went in 
the house without ringing one of the bells dis¬ 
played in the lobby. “ That means they either 
live here or are intimate with some one who does,” 
was her conclusion. 


The New Home On Meadow Street 27 

Apartment 4 proved to be one of the back ones 
on the lower floor. The family who had so inter¬ 
ested Josie had entered the one marked 3. After 
ringing the bell of No. 4, Josie had peered into 
the dark hall and had plainly seen the fur coat 
of the henna haired woman disappear through the 
door after the man in the checked suit had opened 
it with a latch key. 

“ That settles me/’ thought Josie. ‘ 1 I’ll take 
this room if the widow and her daughter turn out 
to be most undesirable landladies in Wakely.” 

Fortunately they turned out to be pleasant folk 
who had seen better days, to which the refinement 
and taste in the furnishings of their living room 
gave mute evidence. The tiny bedroom advertised 
for rent suited Josie perfectly; suited also the 
part she must play as a new shop girl at Burnett 
& Burnett’s with but little money to spend on 
sleeping quarters. 

Mrs. Leslie did hemstitching and fine embroid¬ 
ery to eke out the salary her daughter made as a 
stenographer. The home was neat, and while 
Josie’s room had only one very small window, it 
did not open on a court but had a view of a small 
back yard which Mrs. Leslie informed her would 
later prove a great pleasure to them all. 


28 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

“ It is really quite sweet, and the janitor says 
that in the spring we may plant all the seeds there 
we want to. Mary and I will be much happier if 
we have a place where we can dig. We never 
quite get over longing for the country.” 

Everything being satisfactory, Josie moved in 
that very evening, the question of references being 
waived because Mrs. Leslie had a feeling when 
she looked in Josie’s honest face that she was go¬ 
ing to like her; and since one of the trusted em¬ 
ployees of Burnett & Burnett’s came from her 
county that fact was enough to guarantee the 
goodness of any one of his fellow employees. 

“ We are sorry not to give you your meals,” 
said Mrs. Leslie , (1 but Mary and I live so simply. ’ ’ 

“ You couldn’t live too simply for me,” de¬ 
clared Josie, “ but I wouldn’t be any trouble to 
you for worlds. I can easily get my meals at one 
of the many restaurants near here.” 

“ Oh Mother, couldn’t we? ” asked Mary. 
“ Anyhow just breakfast— ” and Mrs. Leslie de¬ 
cided they could manage breakfast and dinner 
too. So Josie was installed as a lodger and 
boarder and soon the lonesome feeling departed 
as she began to think that perhaps Wakely was 
not such a dismally lonely city after all. 


The New Home On Meadow Street 29 

The Leslies were a gentle, pleasant, kindly pair, 
and Josie was sorely tempted to tell them all 
about herself; how she happened to be in Wakely 
and what her real profession was. But she re¬ 
membered in time what her father used to say, 
holding up a forefinger in impressive fashion: 

“ You know and I know and that makes eleven.’’ 

So Josie held her tongue. She was such an 
“ eloquent listener ” that persons were inclined 
to tell her all about themselves and to forget to 
ask for the story of her life. The Leslie’s were 
like most others and found themselves chatting 
away to their new lodger with little or no restraint. 
She found out they were strangers in Wakely, 
having lived there only two months, knowing very 
few people in the town and none of the fellow 
tenants. 

“ We don’t even know the people who live right 
next to us,” said Mary. “ Mother says she is 
glad we don’t but I must confess I’d rather like 
to know the boy. He is so handsome and kind of 
sad looking. I can’t say much for the sister, 
though. She is handsome enough but at times a 
little coarse and rough. The boy is at home only 
on Saturday afternoons and Sunday. I have an 
idea he and his sister are not on very good terms. 


30 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

I have never yet seen them go anywhere together. 
I can’t see why, because if I had a brother I’d be 
tagging on after him all the time.” 

“ Especially if he were such a good looking 
brother as you say this young man next door 
is,” laughed Josie. 


CHAPTER m 


THE NEIGHBORS IN APARTMENT 3 

Josie reported for work bright and early Mon¬ 
day morning, so early that she was able to have 
a private interview with Mr. Theodore Burnett 
before the business of selling notions was booked 
to begin. He had the list of employees and their 
addresses all neatly typed, also in what depart¬ 
ment of the store each one worked. 

“ I may not be able to keep up the farce of 
selling notions for very long,” Josie explained to 
him. “ You may have to pretend to suspend me 
or something so I can have time to be a detective 
but Pd like to hang on there for a few days so I 
can get the run of things.” 

“ Suit yourself, young lady! We are in your 
hands. By the way, old Major Simpson was 
rather curious about you. I do not understand 
why he wanted to know so much about you.” 

“ I don’t either. Perhaps he met my father in 
days gone by.” 

Whatever the reason, Josie could but notice 
31 


32 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

that the pompous old detective spent a great deal 
of time hanging around the notion counter. He 
seemed to be vastly interested in what she was 
doing and was constantly bumping into her when¬ 
ever she left her department. She even fancied 
he dogged her footsteps when she went out to 
lunch, and was sure that he followed her all the 
way home. 

“ It can’t be my beauty that is attracting him, 
because there is no such thing; and it can’t be my 
wit, for he has not heard me say a word. It must 
be that I look like my father and somewhere in 
his profession as detective he met my father.” 

It was a well known fact that Detective O’Gor¬ 
man had been one of the homeliest men in the 
service, but such was his little daughter’s admira¬ 
tion for him that she never could get a compli¬ 
ment that pleased her so much as for someone to 
say she resembled him in the slightest degree. 

“ Old Major Simpson would have been a joke 
to him, but there may be some intelligence in the 
old fellow after all. There certainly is if he ad¬ 
mired my father.” So thought Josie as she 
walked through the streets of Wakely, concious 
that a bombastic old gentleman was dogging her 
footsteps. In her work of selling notions she was 


The Neighbors In Apartment 3 33 

sure that never a paper of pins was sold by her 
without the house detective’s knowledge. At first 
it irritated her, but in the end she found it an 
amusing game to elude his watchful eye. 

By carefully studying the list of employees she 
soon was able to fit name to face over the whole 
store and place each person in his or her proper 
department. Then came the job of finding the 
address of each employee. 

“ It seems to me important to know if any of 
them are living beyond their means,” she ex¬ 
plained to Mr. Theodore when he asked her why 
she went to work in such a systematic manner. 
“ When persons begin to do that, then it’s time 
to look out. They have a motive for getting-rich- 
quick, and sometimes when there is a motive the 
action follows fast.” 

Poor old Major Simpson had a hard time keep¬ 
ing up with Josie. Every evening after the store 
was closed the girl made it her business to check 
off a certain number of fellow workers, quietly 
rounding up their homes, sometimes walking with 
them under a pretext of having business in their 
neighborhoods, sometimes merely following them. 
The panting and puffing detective lost the scent 
continually, and then Josie felt sorry for him and 


34 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

made it easier for him the next time. Gradually 
she made friends with the employees, careful al¬ 
ways to be the listener and for that reason uni¬ 
versally popular. So completely did she efface 
herself when she happened to make one of a crowd 
that the girls would actually forget her presence. 

Miss Fauntleroy, the tall handsome girl at the 
jewel counter, was one person to whom Josie 
found it difficult to make up. She had a cold man¬ 
ner and attended strictly to business. The ad¬ 
dress given on the list was a suburban one, 10 Lin¬ 
den Row, Linden Heights, and Josie was forced to 
put off looking into her surroundings until the 
winter weather abated somewhat in its ferocity. 

“ Not that I mind the weather / 9 she said to 
herself, “ but it would be too bad to take the old 
Major out where there are no paved streets while 
•snow is up to one’s knees. He might catch his 
death.” 

There was a let up in the shop lifting, no trouble 
having occurred since Josie entered the employ 
of Burnett & Burnett. She had been with them 
two weeks and except for the fact that she proved 
to be an able saleswoman of notions, she had ac¬ 
complished nothing. 

“ You had better dismiss me and let me go 


The Neighbors In Apartment 3 35 

back home,” she said to Mr. Theodore. “ You 
certainly have no need of me here, and the Hig- 
gledy Piggledy Shop is missing me sorely.” 

“ Not at all!” declared the junior member of 
the firm. “ We have plenty of need of you. It 
may be that there is no shop lifting because the 
thief is afraid of you.” 

“ But how could he know I was here? ” 

“ Perhaps others know of the fame of your 
father as well as old Simpson.” 

“ Perhaps—but after all I am not supposed to 
be so much a watchdog as a blood hound. If de¬ 
tectives were simply preventives they would lose 
all their cunning and skill from disuse. I am sure 
you could find a cheaper watchdog than I am.” 

“ Well, we are not kicking about the price so 
why need you? ” 

Josie had had many interviews with the mem¬ 
bers of the firm and felt they were her friends 
and respected her. She especially liked Mr. Theo¬ 
dore, who seemed somewhat more progressive than 
his brother, but both of them were kindly and 
courteous. Mr. Theodore, who was an old bache¬ 
lor, had invited Josie to dine with his family; in¬ 
sisting that his mother and sisters would come 
and call on her and that they would be delighted 


36 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

•to make her acquaintance, but Josie bad firmly 
refused. 

“ Not while I am selling notions,” she had 
laughed. “ It would leak out in the store some¬ 
how and then someone would suspect immediately 
that I was not what I seem to be. Major Simpson 
is already worried about me and my job. I’ll 
wager he is standing outside of this door right 
now and his moustache and goatee are both brist¬ 
ling with curiosity concerning what the business 
is that brings me to your private office before 
opening hours. He would have his ear at the key 
hole if he dared and if his sense of dignity didn’t 
forbid. Why don’t you take him into your con¬ 
fidence? It doesn’t seem quite fair somehow.” 

“ Fair enough! If he wasn’t so conceited we 
might have you work with him but he is so cock 
sure of his own ability. I give you my word, Miss 
O’Gorman, he has never yet landed a shoplifter. 
Sometimes they have been caught by clerks or 
floor walkers, but old Simpson can’t see beyond 
his own embonpoint. Of course if you want his 
help— ” 

“ Heavens, no! ” laughed Josie, “ but I should 
like to know what he knows about me and my being 
here, and why he doesn’t come out and say so if 


The 'Neighbors In Apartment 3 37 

he does know who I am. Is he at all peeved with 
you and Mr. Burnett, your brother? ” 

“ Not at all. In fact, he seems especially de¬ 
lighted with us as well as himself. I can always 
tell when he is pleased by the way he smiles on me 
and strokes his goatee / 9 
Three weeks had passed and Josie felt she was 
not earning her salt. Carefully she watched the 
lower floor of the store from the vantage ground 
of the notion counter. Two bargain Fridays had 
come and gone and as far as Burnett & Burnett 
could tell not one single person had left their em¬ 
porium without either paying or promising to pay 
for the goods carried off. 

The evenings with the Leslies were quiet and 
peaceful. The neighbors at No. 3 left early and 
returned late. Josie occasionally caught a 
glimpse of the man and his wife but she had not 
seen the girl. The youth, she had encountered 
twice in the street and still his appearance puz¬ 
zled her. She was more certain than ever that 
she had seen him before, but where? 

“ I believe they are kind and charitable, any¬ 
how ,” said Mary. “ I met a terrible look¬ 
ing old beggar in the hall coming from their 
apartment and I am sure they had given him 


38 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

something because the lady spoke to him in such 
a gentle tone and he answered her gently and — ” 

“ What did they say? ” asked Josie. 

“ I couldn’t make out, but it sounded kind of 
foreign. That made me think maybe the woman 
has found out there is someone of her nationality 
here in Wakely and she is kind to him because he 
is from her own country.” Mary was the type 
that always made the best of everything and 
everybody. 

“ Well, for my part, I think it is a great mis¬ 
take to encourage tramps and beggars,” said Mrs. 
Leslie. “ Now in the country we never could do 
it. If we even so much as fed one tramp we had 
a swarm of them coming to us for years. My hus¬ 
band once gave one an old suit of clothes and some 
shoes and after I had fed him Mr. Leslie told him 
he could spend the night in the bam because it 
was coming up to snow. After that a week never 
passed that some disreputable old bum didn't 
come whining to my back door. It kept up until 
we had the road gate painted, posts and all, and 
then they let up on us and we began to think that 
the first one had put the tramp's mark on our gate 
and all the others read it and knew we were kind 
hearted. Of course the paint destroyed the mark . 9 7 


The Neighbors In Apartment 3 39 

“ What a wonderful mark to have on your 
gate! ’ ’ exclaimed Mary. ‘ ‘ I wish I knew what it 
was and could put one on our door.” 

“ Perhaps one is there,” suggested Josie, 
“ and I saw it and ventured in.” 

“ I don’t want any real tramps around here,” 
insisted Mrs. Leslie. “ You, Josie, are less like 
a tramp than any one I ever saw. I felt safe with 
you from the moment you entered the door and I 
never have felt safe with any tramp. I don’t like 
to think that tramps might be coming in and out 
of this house and if I ever see or hear of another 
one being in the hall I am going to complain to 
the landlord.” 

“ Oh, Mother, please don’t! What would our 
neighbors think of us? ” 

“ It makes mighty little difference what they 
think. People who don’t speak our language and 
have tramps calling on them have no business 
thinking.” 

Josie laughed. Mrs. Leslie’s feeling in regard 
to tramps and foreigners was a common one with 
persons bom and raised in the country. They en¬ 
couraged neither tramping nor immigration. 

“We have two beggars at Burnett & Bur¬ 
nett’s,” said Josie, “one at the front entrance 


40 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

and one at the back. It is against my principles 
to give to street beggars but I have a hard time 
getting by those two. The Associated Charities 
are consantly asking the public not to encourage 
beggars but send them to the A. C. so that they 
can look into their cases. I am sure they are 
right, and good citizens should uphold them; but 
beggars such as we have at our front and back 
entrances seem to be able to appeal against rea¬ 
son and I am sure they reap a substantial har¬ 
vest. When charitable ladies get up tag days for 
their pet concerns they should man the stations 
with just such beggars instead of attractive young 
girls.” 

“ I thought begging on the street was against 
the city ordinances,” said Mrs. Leslie. 

“ Oh, they get around all laws by pretending 
to sell something. This beggar man at the front 
door sells lead pencils and the woman at the back 
goes through the motions of selling newspapers. 
She never has the last edition and always whines 
if anyone wants change. She is a husky looking 
person and I believe is well fed, in spite of the 
pretext she makes of dining off crusts.” 

“ Poor thing! ” exclaimed Mary. “ Pm sorry 
for her even though she may be a fraud.” 


The Neighbors In Apartment 3 41 

“Of course there is no easy way of making 
an honest living, ,, laughed Josie, “ whether it 
be pounding a typewriter or — selling notions.” 
It was on the tip of Josie’s tongue to say lying 
in wait for shoplifters. “ Begging is not such 
a bad way to spend your time if you are inter¬ 
ested in human nature. Of course it must be 
rather hard on the man at the front entrance 
because he wears a patch over one eye and part 
of his game is to keep the other one half shut. 
That means he can’t see all that is going on, but 
who knows! He may be able to see more with 
half an eye than many persons can with two wide 
open ones.” 

“ The beggar I saw in the hall had a patch 
over his eye. I noticed it particularly, and felt 
sorrier than ever for him. I’d have given him 
something if he hadn’t hurried away so fast when 
I came in.” 

“ A great many beggars seem to be minus one 
eye,” said Josie. “ I remember reading once 
of a great French detective who captured a 
notorious criminal, who was operating as a 
blind beggar with a patch over his eye, be¬ 
cause the pseudo -beggar inadvertently changed 
blind eyes. The detective had passed him 


42 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

many times on the Pont Neuf in Paris, where 
the beggar had stood for weeks and weeks 
whining a pitiful tale. Now this detective, like 
all good ones, let nothing escape him, and he had 
noticed that the blind beggar wore a patch over 
his right eye. One morning the patch had moved 
to the left one. That set Mr. Detective to think¬ 
ing and he watched the man. When darkness 
came the man stopped begging for the day, hob¬ 
bled from the bridge into a nearby crooked street 
and there he straightened up, took off the tell 
tale patch and walked briskly along the side walk. 
Then it was an easy matter to track him to his 
luxurious lair. Begging was merely a side line, 
as burglary on a large scale was his real profes¬ 
sion. He was attempting to conceal his identity 
under the cloak of a mendicant. 

“ I still say, poor fellow,’’ said Mary. 

“ And I say,” said Mrs. Leslie shrewdly, “ that 
if I were a detective I’d wonder what on earth 
made you, Josie, go into being a shop girl. I 
begin to think it is nothing but a side line with 
you.” 

Josie, being completely off her guard, hardly 
knew how to answer Mrs. Leslie. She did not 
deem it wise to take mother and daughter into 


The Neighbors In Apartment 3 43 

her confidence concerning her true business in 
Wakely. She blushed and stammered like a veri¬ 
table novice at the game of concealment and fal- 
teringly assured Mrs. Leslie that she had been 
forced into selling notions because of reverses in 
her family fortunes. 

“ To be sure the wages are not so very high,” 
she continued, “ but Burnett & Burnett’s is a 
pleasant place in which to work. Then, too, it is 
so nice to be here with you and Mary that I don’t 
mind being in a store all day.” 

Mrs. Leslie expressed herself as satisfied con¬ 
cerning her lodger’s profession but she after¬ 
wards said to her daughter: 6 ‘ She has a kind of 
high-brow way with her at times that makes me 
doubt her being just a poor girl; and her clothes, 
while they are simple, are made of such good 
material. You can’t fool me on dry goods. I 
tell you, Mary, Josie’s dresses are made out of 
stuff that cost five dollars a yard.” 


CHAPTER IV 


josie’ s little black book 

“ Now I’ve talked too much! ” Josie took her¬ 
self to task after retiring to her room. “ Mrs. 
Leslie has some kind of suspicion concerning me 
and it is all my own fault. I wonder what my 
father would have done under the circum¬ 
stances.’ ’ 

She took from her top drawer a little leather 
book; her most valued possession and without 
which she never traveled. It was a chunky little 
hook, evidently home made. The pages were cov¬ 
ered with neatly written lines which, to the un¬ 
initiated, looked like so much Greek script. It 
was in reality a cryptic shorthand invented by 
Detective O’Gorman and known only to him and 
his daughter and one other—a certain criminal, 
Felix Markham. How he came to know this fam¬ 
ily code is another story altogether. At any rate, 
in the United States Josie was the only person 
who could make heads or tails of this writing, 
as her dear father had gone to that far country 
44 


Josie 9 s Little Black Book 


45 


where detectives find no work to do, and Mark¬ 
ham had fled to China after having executed a 
daring escape from the penitentiary. 

In this little book the detective had inscribed 
many homely sayings, some original but most of 
them borrowed from Poor Richard’s Almanac, 
the Proverbs of Solomon and other like sources. 
Josie often amused her friends by quoting these 
bits of wisdom as though her dear father had 
been responsible for all of them. Also in this 
book was written much that was interesting and 
valuable concerning criminals with whom CPGor- 
man had come in contact; descriptions of their 
appearance, habits and pecularities, as well as the 
lists of their aliases and professions engaged in 
as blinds. 

All of this was interesting reading and Josie 
never tired of conning over the difficult script. 
Reading between the lines she caught hints of suc¬ 
cesses which the noted criminologist was too mod¬ 
est even to put in his diary, although it was writ¬ 
ten in a shorthand known only to himself and 
his daughter and was meant for no other eyes. 

On this night it was not her father’s successes 
that interested Josie, but his failures. The last 
twenty pages of the little book were filled with 


46 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

his failures and analyses of why he had failed, 
also admonitions to his daughter as to what she 
should avoid in the way of pitfalls for a detective. 

“ When you find you have aroused suspicion 
in the mind of someone as to your real business 
which it is perhaps expedient to conceal, do not 
be too quick to allay those suspicions as the per¬ 
son concerned will no doubt be on the lookout 
to trap you. If, in the course of time, you quietly 
do or say again the same thing that first aroused 
the suspicion in the mind of the person and then, 
being on your guard, make some casual expla¬ 
nation, it will be more convincing than changing 
too quickly and appearing for that reason rather 
unnatural. For instance, if, the better to catch 
a criminal, you have been taking the part of a 
lowly person, say a dishwasher in a restaurant, 
and inadvertently you show yourself to be edu¬ 
cated— do not immediately revert to slang and 
double negatives to throw the person to whom 
you have revealed your culture off the scent, but 
rather show other bits of learning and then have 
a plausible story ready to account for a dish¬ 
washer knowing something beyond hot suds and 
drainers and tea towels . 9 9 

“ There I am! 99 exclaimed Josie. “I am not 


Josie’s Little Black Book 


47 


sure just what it was that started Mrs. Leslie 
but I think it was the free and easy gabble about 
Paris bridges and luxurious lairs. Now I must 
bring up the subject again and talk some more 
about the same thing and then give her some kind 
of song and dance that will sound plausible 
enough to throw her off the scent. Then Ill 
jump back to the subject of bone buttons and 
linen tape and maybe haul in something about a 
handsome floor walker at Burnett & Burnett’s.” 

Satisfied with the plan, Josie devoutly closed 
her little book and went peacefully to sleep, wick¬ 
edly hoping that somebody would do a little shop¬ 
lifting the next day to keep her from dying of 
ennui. 

Breakfast was hurried and she had little time 
to talk to Mrs. Leslie. One could not be very 
tactful nor use much finesse with a mouth full 
of hot oatmeal porridge. To talk about the crime 
wave in Paris so early in the morning would be 
ridiculous. It must keep until evening. Perhaps 
she w T as mistaken about Mrs. Leslie having any 
suspicion of her. Mary was as gentle and lovely 
as ever and her mother was certainly most con¬ 
siderate and cordial in her insistence that Josie 
should have another cup of coffee. After all, she 


48 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

had nothing to conceal — that is, nothing that 
would he to her discredit. It was only that she 
deemed it wiser to keep to herself her real busi¬ 
ness in Wakely. Of course if Mrs. Leslie became 
too suspicious it would be a simple matter to tell 
her the whole truth. 

That morning the girls started to town a little 
earlier than was their custom. It was Saturday 
and a half holiday. Mary had some extra typing 
on hand she was anxious to finish and Josie 
wanted to interview Mr. Theodore Burnett before 
the store opened. As they stepped into the pub¬ 
lic hall of the apartment house they ran into 
the same beggar of whom Mary had spoken the 
evening before. The hall was unlighted except 
for a pale streak of sun that tried to find its way 
through the dingy glass of the street door but 
Josie did not need much light to recognize the 
man as the beggar who sat at the main door of 
Burnett & Burnett’s. The man began a pleading 
beggar’s whine and held out his hand to the girls. 
Unfortunately for him Mrs. Leslie opened her 
door at that moment to call a last good bye to 
her daughter and to remind her of some prom¬ 
ised errand. The sight of the beggar angered 
her and she spoke sharply to him: 


Josie 9 s Little Black Book 


49 


“ Begone sir! ” she cried. “It is against all 
rules of the house to have beggars in the hall.” 

“ Excuse! Excuse! ” and the man bowed hum¬ 
bly, shuffling off with bent back and palsied head. 
As he passed the irate lady, Josie caught the 
flash of resentment that glowed in his one eye. 

“ Oh, Mother, the poor fellow! ” said Mary. 
“ I feel so sorry for him and you hurt his feel¬ 
ings terribly.” 

“He’d no business in the hall. Perhaps I was 
a bit hasty. Here, run after him, Mary, and give 
him this penny. But tell him he mustn’t come 
back here.” 

Mary added a small sum to her mother’s penny 
and hastening after the man pressed it in his 
hand. Josie, who was close behind, again caught 
an expression on the man’s face — a leer of ad¬ 
miration for the pretty young girl with her fresh 
rosy face and kind blue eyes. 

A view of him in broad daylight convinced Josie 
that he really was the beggar who had the desir¬ 
able stand at the front entrance to Burnett & 
Burnett’s and also the realization came to her 
that she had seen the man before and that it was 
not as a mendicant. 

For the second time since Josie came to Wakely 


50 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

she puzzled her brains over where before she had 
seen or known a man, this time an old one. She 
was still in doubt as to the identity of the young 
man who evidently lived in the apartment next 
the Leslie's, and now a palsied old beggar was 
adding to her perplexity. 

“ I'll keep an eye on him during the morning 
and perhaps I'll remember," she promised her¬ 
self. 

It was a busy morning but between sales Josie 
managed to get an occasional glimpse of the one 
eyed beggar at the gate. He, too, was doing a 
thriving business. Josie wondered if the woman 
at the rear entrance was playing in such good 
luck as her rival in the front. Once during the 
morning she had occasion to pass by the back 
door and could look out at the female newsie. 
Straggling iron gray hair was blown by the 
wintry breezes across a round, plump face which 
Nature had doubtless intended to be wreathed in 
perpetual smiles and which seemed with difficulty 
to assume an expression of misery and woe. Her 
comfortable, well rounded body was arrayed in 
pitiful rags. Josie determined to study her more 
closely and accordingly when the store closed she 
made her exit by the rear door. 


Josie’s Little Black Book 


51 


‘ ‘ Pa - a - perrr! Pa - a - perr! ’’ quavered the 
woman in a tone that spoke of utter misery and 
dejection. 

A genial gentleman stopped to buy one. 

“ Is it the last edition? ” he asked. 

“ Ye-e-ss sirr! ” she wined, “ the very latest.” 

He handed her a quarter of a dollar. 

“ I haven’t an-y ch-aa-nge, sirr.” 

“ No change? Well then keep it! ” he ex¬ 
claimed with a note of irritation in his voice. 

Saturday was a short day for the employees of 
Burnett & Burnett’s and Josie determined to use 
the afternoon in looking up some more residences 
of her fellow workers. The day was pleasant, 
with a hint of premature spring in the air; an 
excellent day for checking up on some of the 
suburban addresses. 

“ I wonder if Major Simpson will follow me. 
Anyhow, I have chosen a balmy afternoon for 
his jaunt if he decides to take it,” she laughed. 
“ I have a great mind to give him the slip.” 

By the simple expedient of going up one ele¬ 
vator and down another Josie eluded the old de¬ 
tective, who was evidently on the lookout for her. 
She then quickly made her way to the rear exit 
and was out on the street before the old gentle- 


52 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

man realized that the young person in whom he 
was taking such an unacountable interest had 
flown the coop. 

“ Ding bust it! ” he remarked eloquently, “I’ll 
come up with her yet . 9 9 

Miss Fauntleroy was immediately in front of 
Josie, moving with her accustomed slow grace. 
The girl was well proportioned and Josie had 
not realized before how very tall she was. Being 
of rather a diminutive statute herself, she seemed 
almost a dwarf by the side of the stately young 
woman. 

“ Pa-a-perr, pa-a-perr,” quavered the old 
woman in an irritating whine. 

Miss Fauntleroy stopped and holding out a 
dime asked for a newspaper. Her voice was sin¬ 
gularly hard and cold but the old beggar seemed 
rather amused as she answered: 

“ Yes, my prr-r-ty! Here’s your Jou-r-rnal.” 

“ Hive me my change,” demanded the girl 
haughtily. 

“ Change! Sur-r-ely you know an old woman 
like me can’t make change.” 

“ Well you’ll make it for me or give me back 
my dime,” said the girl angrily, her voice break¬ 
ing hoarsely. She snatched the money from the 


Josie’s Little Black Book 


53 


old woman’s hand and rudely twisting and rum¬ 
pling the paper so that it would be difficult to 
sell to another customer, she threw it into the 
basket at the beggar’s feet and then walked 
proudly away. 

While Josie held no brief for beggars of any 
sort, neither those who begged outright nor those 
who begged under the guise of selling back num¬ 
ber papers or pencils made of scrap lead, still 
her heart was kind and it tried her sorely to wit¬ 
ness the rudeness and direct unkindness of the 
inconsiderate Miss Fauntleroy. 

“Here! I’ll take that rumpled paper,” she 
said gently, handing the correct change to the 
old woman. “ I can smooth it out and read it on 
the trolley.” She stooped swiftly and picked 
up the twisted Wakely Journal. 

“ No, no, lady! I’ll give you a nice clean pa- 
perr,” insisted the newsie, reaching eagerly for 
the one that Miss Fauntleroy had thrown so dis¬ 
dainfully in her basket. But Josie clutched it 
tightly and was soon lost in the crowd, while the 
old woman sat dazed and disconsolate, forget¬ 
ting to cry her wares as the employees trooped 
forth from Burnett & Burnett’s. 


CHAPTER V 


THE MAJOR TAKES UP A TRAIL 

Josie jammed the rumpled paper in the big 
patch pocket of her sport coat and thought no 
more about it. She boarded the interurban trol¬ 
ley which passed through Linden Heights, won¬ 
dering if Miss Fauntleroy could be on it and 
doubtful whether it were better for her to get 
off at Linden Row with that haughty and evi¬ 
dently bad tempered young woman or to ride on 
for several blocks. The crowded car thinned out 
as they approached the suburbs. Josie was soon 
able to make sure that the girl was not on board. 

“ Let me off at Linden Row, please ,’ 9 she asked 
the conductor. 

“ Sure, miss, an’ the sign was put up only 
yesterday so I know where it is. The streets out 
here ain’t marked reg’lar.” 

Linden Heights presented the appearance of 
much suburban property aspiring to become ur¬ 
ban; streets and avenues named, sidewalks laid 
out, curbing placed, everything ready to make a 
54 


55 


The Major Takes Up a Trad 

thriving, prosperous, homelike neighborhood — 
everything but the homes and the neighbors. The 
houses were few and far between and Linden 
Row, though boasting a brand new name on a 
brand new corner and a brand new row of spin¬ 
dling linden trees, had not a house to its name. 
Josie walked north until the sad young street 
lost itself in a corn field; then she retraced her 
steps, crossed the car tracks and walked south 
until a swamp interrupted her progress, and still 
no habitation. Bullfrogs were singing their 
spring song in the swamp so Josie felt repaid 
for her long ride on the trolley. 

“ It means spring is almost here,” she said 
to herself, “ is here, in fact. It’s a surer sign 
than thunder and lightning; surer than the rob¬ 
in’s whistle or trailing arbutus blossoms. How 
my dear father did love to hear the bullfrogs! ” 

So far as Josie could ascertain Linden Heights 
was nothing more than a real estate map. At 
any rate there was not a single house in the place 
with the exception of an old farm house, the man¬ 
sion of the original owners of the tract, and when 
Josie knocked on the door with a trumped up 
plea that she was hunting a place to board, she 
was met without much encouragement by an old 


56 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

man with a tousled beard and mane who gave her 
to understand that he couldn’t abide women and 
wouldn’t let one of them stay on his place for 
five minutes. At least she had found out what 
she wanted to know: Miss Fauntleroy did not 
live there. 

“ Very puzzling! ” she mused. “ Why did she 
give a fictitious address to her employers? The 
first interesting thing that has happened since 
I came to this town. I hope it will lead to some¬ 
thing. Anyhow I’ll watch this strange girl and 
find out something more about her. She certainly 
was very rude to the old beggar.” 

On the way hack to the city Josie decided to 
read the paper she had bought from the old 
woman, but at that moment she became engrossed 
in the conversation of some of her fellow pas¬ 
sengers and the Wakely Journal remained in the 
patch pocket of her sport coat. 

“ The only thing I regret about my fruitless 
trip to Linden Heights is that I didn’t have the 
company of old Major Simpson,” Josie amused 
herself by thinking. “ I shouldn’t call it fruit¬ 
less, however, as it may lead to something. Any¬ 
how, I’m wondering what the dear Major did in 
my absence.” 


57 


The Major Takes Up a Trail 

Had Josie realized what the dear Major was 
doing in her absence she would not have been 
quite so nonchalant in her idle surmises. No 
doubt his actions would have amused her but 
certainly they would have irritated her as well. 

In the first place, Josie had hardly made her 
escape by the rear entrance of the department 
store when Min, whose surname was Tracy, gave 
a hurry call from the lace counter that in putting 
up her goods she had discovered the loss of many 
yards of the filmiest and finest lace in stock. 
The counter next to her reported missing a very 
expensive imported gold mesh bag. A hue and 
cry was raised by the excited Major Simpson 
and after much pompous blustering he had rushed 
to the office of the chief executives where he not 
only reported the theft but demanded Josie 
0’Gorman’s address. 

“ So you have a suspicion of who she is then, 
this Miss O’Gorman! ” asked Mr. Theodore Bur¬ 
nett. 

u Yes, I’ve had my eye on her for days. I 
have not been in the detective business for all 
of these years without being able to distinguish 
a girl of her type from a simple saleslady of 
buttons and what not.” 


58 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

“ Well, you are pretty clever, Major. I hope 
you two can get together. You say she has gone 
for the day? Do you think she can clear up this 
shop lifting mystery? ” 

“ Of course she can if anyone can. Give me 
her address and maybe I can overtake her.” 

“ Eleven, East Meadow, Apartment 4, is her 
address. It is remarkable that a girl as young 
as she is can he so successful. She is very clever 
I think.” 

“ Yes — altogether too clever! ” muttered Ma¬ 
jor Simpson. “ But she will find there are 
others,” he intimated darkly. 

44 Yes, yes! ” said Mr. Burnett uneasily, “ but 
for goodness sake don’t be short with her. I 
am sure that through her we may be able to track 
down the whole gang of shoplifters.” 

“ Trust me, my dear Theodore, trust me!” 
said the Major, patting his white vest comfort¬ 
ably. “ I will use all the finesse that my long 
service in this establishment has fostered. You 
need never fear that Silvester Simpson will be 
anything but a diplomat.” 

‘ ‘ Oh sure! Sure! 9 9 added Mr. Burnett quickly. 
“ I’ll leave it to you but I beg of you that you 
communicate with Miss 0’Gorman at once.” 


The Major Takes Up a Trail 59 

“ Immediately! ” and the Major strutted from 
the office. 

“ Eleven, East Meadow,” he mused. “ That 
is the right address. I have followed her home 
•often enough to know, but I asked Theodore just 
to see if the person had the temerity to give her 
real address.” And the old gentleman, not trust¬ 
ing his short legs to carry him to number eleven 
fast enough, hastily called a taxi. 

When Major Simpson rang a bell he did not 
simply touch a button, he pressed it, and that 
with no light finger but with the end of his 
walking stick, leaning heavily against it until 
the bell was answered or broken. 

Mrs. Leslie answered it quickly and somewhat 
indignantly. She had a sponge cake in the oven 
and the noise of the bell was enough to make 
it fall. 

“ What is it, sir? ” but her tone of asperity 
quickly changed when she saw who was respon¬ 
sible for the clamor. “ Well if it isn’t Major 
Sylvester Simpson. Sakes alive, Major Simpson, 
how did you find me out? I’ve been telling my¬ 
self every day for two months that I ought to 
let you know I was in Wakely because of our 
families being kind of hereditary friends, but 


60 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

Mary and I are living in such a small way, 
and—” 

Major Simpson — Major by courtesy only — 
made up in gallantry what he lacked in finesse. 
Not for worlds would he inform Mrs. Leslie that 
he was not looking her up at all and was quite 
as astonished to see her as she was to see him. 
He remembered her quite well as little Polly Bain- 
bridge, whose grandfather’s farm was just across 
the creek from the Simpson’s farm. She had 
been a little girl when he was a grown man spend¬ 
ing his yearly holidays in the country. He re¬ 
membered faintly once having made her a pres¬ 
ent of a pink parasol on one of those visits. She 
was a very small girl and he was even then a 
floor walker at Burnett & Burnett’s. Perhaps 
that was how he happened to know the appeal 
a pink parasol has for a little girl. 

Now that he had found her he must come in 
and see her. Of course it could not be that the 
person of whom he was really in search could 
possibly be living with Polly Bainbridge — now 
Mrs. Leslie — who came from his county and was 
of honest and respectabe parentage as had also 
been her husband, people of good blood and repu¬ 
tation. 


61 


The Major Takes JJp a Trail 

The Leslie’s living room was homelike, pleas¬ 
ant, and spotlessly clean, but with a certain fem¬ 
inine disorder in the way of a work basket open 
on the table, a scarf thrown over the back of a 
chair, a bit of embroidery on the sofa. This made 
an irresistible appeal to Major Simpson who, 
though a bachelor, was a great admirer of “ the 
ladies ” unless they happened to be “ sales¬ 
ladies.” These he always regarded with suspi¬ 
cion as being either incipient shoplifters or, worse 
than that even, designing females who aspired 
to become Mrs. Simpson. 

He settled himself in a comfortable overstuffed 
chair, conveniently low enough to allow him to 
cross his plump legs, and sniffed the pleasing 
odors emanating from the tiny kitchen. 

“ You must excuse me a minute,” blushed Mrs. 
Leslie, “ but I have a cake in the oven.” 

“ Ah, that sounds like home!” declared the gal¬ 
lant Major. “ And when I say home I mean the 
country. I fear me the city ladies trust to the 
bakers for such— ” But Mrs. Leslie could not 
wait to find out what the city ladies trusted to the 
bakers as her cake had been in the prescribed 
number of minutes and the gas must be turned 
off and the cake turned out of the pan. 


62 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

The major sniffed again. “ Coffee! ” was the 
verdict of his olefactory nerves. Like the Rag¬ 
gedy Man: “ His old nose didn’t tell no lies,” 
for in a few minutes Mrs. Leslie returned with a 
tray of coffee and some hot doughnuts she had 
just finished frying when her bell pealed so loudly 
and persistently. 

The guest ummed and ahhed with appreciation. 
He was self congratulatory that the little girl to 
whom he had once presented a pink parasol had 
grown into such a fine woman. He always had 
been a person of discernment and from the begin¬ 
ning he had known that little Polly Bainbridge 
was of the right sort. It was a pleasant thing to 
feel that a pink parasol cast on the waters might 
after some thirty odd years — or was it forty — 
be returned to one in the shape of fragrant coffee 
and hot doughnuts. 

First, all the county news must be retailed and 
a bit of mild gossip concerning old neighbors be 
whispered. Major Simpson had long ago given 
up the habit of spending his holidays back home 
since the old folks had all died off and his ances¬ 
tral halls passed into the hands of strangers. But 
his interest in all pertaining to his county was as 
strong as ever. 


63 


The Major Takes Up a Trail 

“ I only go back for funerals, now,” said the 
old man sadly. Mrs. Leslie thought of the last 
funeral she had attended in that part of the 
world, that of Mr. Leslie, and her eyes filled with 
tears. The gay little coffee and doughnut party 
seemed in danger of becoming as sad as a wake 
but Mrs. Leslie brushed away her tears and smiled 
on her guest, filling his cup and pressing upon 
him another doughnut. So by simple grace hap¬ 
piness and good cheer were restored. 

“Now tell me of your daughter. It seems 
strange for little Polly Bainbridge to hav|e a 
grown daughter. Do you two ladies live here all 
alone? ” 

“ Oh no! We have a lodger — Miss 0 ’Gorman. 
By the way, Major Simpson, she says she is em¬ 
ployed at Burnett & Burnett’s.” 

Mrs. Leslie could not resist a slight emphasis 
on the “ says ” although she had promised Mary 
to try and forget the strange suspicions that had 
arisen in her mind concerning her gentle little 
lodger. 

“ She says right! ” declared the Major shortly, 
suddenly remembering that he was a detective 
out on a scent. “ What do you know of the 
young person? 99 


64 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

“ Nothing—nothing at all! She came here in 
answer to an advertisement my daughter and I 
put in a Sunday paper. We took her in without 
references. Come to think of it, her saying she 
had a position with Burnett & Burnett seemed to 
me all the reference I needed since you were 
one of the firm.” 

“ No, no, dear lady—not yet—merely a trusted 
officer of the company. But tell me more of this 
Miss O’Gorman. How does she impress you? Do 
you feel that she is not—er—er exactly what she 
pretends to be? ” 

“ Oh Major Simpson, it seems wrong to doubt 
the girl but— ” 

“ But what? ” 

“ She is a nice girl—a lady, in fact, but I can’t 
believe she is exactly what she says she is—I 
mean a girl with a job selling bone buttons and 
things. Not that there aren’t a great many ladies 
in shops—I don’t mean that there aren’t—and 
elegant gentlemen, too, but there is something 
about her and her clothes— ” 

4 ‘Ah! Her clothes! She seems to me to be 
simply dressed, more so than most of her fellow 
employees. ” 

“ Exactly, but have you felt of them? ” 


The Major Takes Up a Trail 65 

“ Not exactly! ” answered the detective with 
dignity. 

“ I mean the material is so good, it would take 
almost a month’s salary to pay for one of her 
dresses, unless she makes a great deal more than 
girls just beginning usually make. And she has 
all of her dresses duplicated.” 

“ Was it only her clothes that made you think 
she was different? ” 

“ Oh no, it was the way she talks. I hadn’t 
really had a positive suspicion of her being some¬ 
thing she said she wasn’t, or rather not being what 
she said she was, until last night when we were 
sitting around the table reading and sewing. Josie 
got to talking about noted criminals and what they 
did and how detectives caught them—” 

“ Just stuff she had read in cheap magazines, 
I presume.” 

“ No, not fiction but facts.” 

The Major became as eager as a hound on 
trail. Here were facts—excellent things for a 
detective to know—and in the possession of a 
woman. How easy it would be for him, with 
his years of experience, to wheedle this artless 
soul into telling all she knew. 

“ Ah , facts! Now, er-er-my dear neighbor, 


66 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

just what do you mean by facts? ” asked the 
Major, making a great effort to appear uncon¬ 
cerned. 

“ Well, she spoke kind of familiarly of Paris 
and her accent sounded like our teacher’s used 
to—not at all like pupils. I always have my 
doubts about anybody who has too good an 
accent in French. I think she felt I was sus¬ 
picious of her because she shut up all of a 
sudden. Please tell me, Major Simpson, have 
you also some suspicion concerning our lodger? ” 


CHAPTER VI 


TOO MANY DETECTIVES 

Major Simpson looked at his hostess with blink¬ 
ing eyes. Although he had spoken scornfully of 
cheap magazine fiction that had no doubt put melo¬ 
dramatic notions in Josie’s head, the truth of the 
matter was that the old gentleman devoured them 
himself in private, especially the ones dealing 
with crime and clever sleuths. How often in these 
stories unsuspecting women, landladies and lodg¬ 
ing house keepers, were unconscious means of 
tracking desperate criminals. The detective 
came to a sudden conclusion. He determined to 
take into his confidence this gentle lady from his 
own county. Anyone who had such a light hand 
at doughnuts and could brew such clear rich cof¬ 
fee must have finesse. She was the one of all 
others to help him in his business of determining 
a difficult point in his profession. He leaned 
forward and grasping the widow’s plump hand, 
patted it tenderly. 

“ Mrs. Leslie—Miss Polly—er-er-Polly, little 
67 


68 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

Polly Bainbridge, I wonder if you will help an old 
neighbor and friend in a most important matter.” 

“ Help you, Major Simpson! How can a wo¬ 
man like me serve such a gentleman as you? ” 

“ Know then, my dear Mrs. Les—I mean Polly 
—I may call you Polly I hope— ” 

“ Certainly, Major Simpson! ” 

“ Well then, my dear Polly, you have under 
your roof a character that is under suspicion. I 
serve at Burnett & Burnett’s in a confidential 
capacity as their trusted private detective.” 

“ Land’s sakes! ” cried Mrs. Leslie, who had 
an inborn respect for the law and all persons ap¬ 
pointed to uphold it. But according to plays she 
had seen and the movies, a detective always wore 
a shabby brown derby and box-toed shoes. Here 
was her visitor, an acknowledged detective, in 
the smallest and neatest of polished oxfords, and 
from her chair she could plainly see a silk hat 
on the marble topped table in the reception hall, 
the kind of hat that might have been worn with 
impunity by presidents of republics or prime min¬ 
isters of monarchies. 

Having under her roof, or rather under her 
ceiling—because Mrs. Leslie had never felt that 
the roof of the apartment house belonged to 


Too Many Detectives 69 

her in the least—having under her ceiling a 
suspicious character was not nearly so excit¬ 
ing to that lady as harboring a live detective. 
She reasoned that Major Simpson must he an 
excellent detective since he had never divulged 
that it was in that capacity he served Burnett 
& Burnett, the opinion being in his county that 
he was a “ kind of partner ” in the firm. 

Tales of mystery had always been Mrs. Leslie ’s 
dissipation—it might be truthfully said her only 
dissipation—and now it was a delightful thing 
that what had hitherto been a dissipation should 
he put upon her as a duty. Surely everybody 
would consider it her duty to assist an old neigh¬ 
bor and family friend in any way possible. 

‘ i Help you! Indeed I will. Tell me what I 
must do first.” 

“ Tell me something of the life and habits of 
this young person, who has so imposed upon 
you. ” 

“ Well, she is quiet, gentle, considerate and un¬ 
assuming. I certainly have to give her that. She 
is never a mite of trouble but aways helps Mary 
and me about any household tasks that come up, 
very much as though she were a daughter of the 
house.” 


70 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

“ Um-hum! Sly, very sly! ” puffed the major. 

“ She is orderly and regular in her habits. 
Keeps her room as neat as a pin and never leaves 
anything lying around.’’ 

6 6 Afraid of giving a clue to her carryings-on. 
She is no doubt a hardened adventuress.” 

Mrs. Leslie thrilled with excitement. She felt 
delightful cold chills running up and down her 
backbone and her eyes w T ere snapping and her 
cheeks glowing as though under the spell of no 
less a person than Anna Katherine Green or Mary 
Roberts Reinhart. “ The Bat ” himself had not 
been able to make her shudder more happily. For 
the moment she lost all feeling for Josie, of whom 
she was really very fond, but thought of her only 
as a character in fiction and herself as the astute 
heroine who would track her to her lair. 

“ She is very much interested in Mary and me 
and encourages us to tell her all kinds of things 
about our home in the country. I am afraid we 
have told her many family secrets, nothing of 
grave importance because we have led quiet, shel¬ 
tered lives up to the last few months, but just 
stories of the farm and Mary’s childhood and my 
girlhood. She is such a good listener and we have 
talked to her very freely. ’ ’ 


Too Many Detectives 


71 


“ Of course you have. Thais' part of her 
game; to get information of all kinds about neigh¬ 
borhoods and then work some kind of fraud on 
them. She is more than likely to go down to our 
county and get in with folks there and steal the 
spoons and the registered letters or something. I 
tell you, Polly, I know their game—these slick 
ones. I’ll be bound she has talked mighty little 
about herself. Do you know any more about her 
home life, where she came from, what she did be¬ 
fore she started to ‘ do you ’ than you did when 
she first came to you? ” 

“ No, Pm afraid we don’t.” 

“ Exactly! ” 

“ But tell me what you think the poor girl has 
done? ” asked Mrs. Leslie, who could but feel 
sorry for criminals even though they spoke French 
with a French accent. 

‘ ‘ Done! Why I have my suspicions that she 
had stolen from Burnett & Burnett many hun¬ 
dreds of dollars worth of real lace as well as a 
gold mesh bag that is easily worth a hundred. 
She is suspected by Mr. Burnett, too, but we are 
to go easy with her as we hope to track to their 
lair others who were able to get away with thou¬ 
sands of dollars worth of goods a few weeks ago.” 


172 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

“ What makes yon think she has done it? ” 
gasped Mrs. Leslie, her hack bone continuing to 
tingle deliciously over such expressions as ‘ 1 Track 
to their lair.” 

“ Many things have led me to suspect her,” 
said the Major with impressive gravity. “ She 
has studiously avoided my scrutiny and when I 
have attempted to follow her on the street she 
has with great ingenuity evaded my pursuit— 
given me the slip, as we say in the profession.” 

“ Then you have followed her? ” 

“ Repeatedly! No doubt you have noticed that 
she seldom comes home immediately after closing 
hours, but walks around town, up one street and 
down another. Now is not that in itself a peculiar 
way for a nice young woman to behave? ” 

“ Perhaps! ” 

“ To my way of thinking it is very peculiar. 
Another thing is that she has ingratiated herself 
into the good will of many of the clerks at Burnett 

Burnett's. She has followed the same method 
with them that she has with you; always inviting 
confidence and never revealing anything concern¬ 
ing her own life and affairs. I have questioned 
some of them closely and all have nothing but good 
to say of Miss Josie 0'Gorman. Now that in it- 


Too Many Detectives 73 

self is unnatural and shows she has a sinister in¬ 
fluence. ’’ 

“ Ah, Major Simpson, I fear you are sarcastic .’ 9 

“Not at all, my dear Miss Polly! Young wo¬ 
men in business are just like young women in so¬ 
ciety and are chary of expressions of admiration 
for members of their own sex.” 

“ But why do you think that my lodger has 
stolen these valuable articles? What proof have 
you? 99 

“ None as yet—but that is where you are to 
help me. When the clerks reported the theft to 
me, immediately my instinct was to find this 
O’Gorman. It was within a minute of closing 
time and I would have gotten her but she seemed 
to divine that I was on her heels and jumped into 
an elevator. I followed in the next but she came 
up as I went down. You may imagine, my dear 
madam, how annoying it was to one of my years 
—and I may add, dignity—to be see-sawing up 
and down an elevator shaft in pursuit of a 
wretched little sandy haired girl. I give you my 
word I went up and down three times, always 
missing her like a foolish scene in a motion pic¬ 
ture comedy. Then I took my stand at the front 
door, hoping to catch up with her in that way 


74 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

but she evidently slipped out the back door and 
once more gave me the slip. Now, however, I 
have tracked her to her lair—if such a charming 
parlor as yours could be called a lair—and with 
your able assistance I am sure I can catch up with 
her.” 

“ You have not told me yet how I am to assist 
you.” 

“ Simply by keeping your eyes open and re¬ 
porting to me at every turn. I want to know every 
detail in regard to the movements of this O'Gor¬ 
man person. I should like very much to see her 
room. I might gather some information that 
would escape the notice of a novice.” 

“ It seems kind of underhand—I mean on my 
part, but I'll take you to her room and if I get out 
of this mess I never intend to advertise again for 
lodgers. Mary and I will have to manage some¬ 
how. I know Mary will be greatly put out when 
she hears of my helping you. She has taken a 
great fancy to Josie. You see, we both call her 
Josie by now.” 

“ It just shows your kind heart and your daugh¬ 
ter's loving disposition. If I were you, Mrs. Les¬ 
lie— Polly — I would not mention the matter to 
Miss Mary. She might feel it her duty to warn 


Too Many Detectives 


75 


the young woman that we are on to her tricks and 
she might escape. The fewer who are taken into 
a plot the better. But show me the young person’s 
room—I might say lair or den, because all crim¬ 
inals are more or less like animals and those 
terms are very appropriate. To call your sweet 
homelike parlor by such an epithet was criminal 
in itself.’ 9 

Josie’s room was as neat as a hospital, not a 
thing out of place. Mrs. Leslie opened the closet 
where hung the several dresses of the suspiciously 
good material. 

“ Just feel of them,” she demanded, and since 
they were merely hanging in a closet the Major 
did not deem it too familiar to comply with her 
request. It was not as though they were on the 
young woman’s person. 

“ Yes, very fine quality,” was his verdict, his 
memory harking back to early days at Burnett & 
Burnett’s when he stood behind the counter and 
measured cloths. “ And look at the shoes! ” 

Josie’s one vanity being her feet, she was very 
particular about her shoes. Feet being one of 
the many vanities Major Simpson possessed he 
was a better judge of shoes than materials for 
dresses. On the floor of the closet was a neat row 


!76 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

of shoes all on shoe trees and all highly polished. 

“ Don't tell me! A girl standing behind a coun¬ 
ter couldn't afford to wear such shoes as these. 
Look at the cut! Look at the leather! Every 
heel as straight as a die and the ties of the finest 
grograin. Her shoes would give her away as 
masquerading if nothing else would. " 

The inquisitive visitor must then have a peep 
in the bureau drawers. All was neat as a pin. The 
Major, being an old bachelor and extremely fussy 
about his personal belongings, could but be im¬ 
pressed by the exquisite order of the youthful 
criminal's bureau. 

“ Such a pity! Such a pity! " he muttered. 
“ But no doubt there is some good in the worst 
of them. And what is this little book? " 

He took from the back of the top drawer Josie'g 
precious little homemade book filled with her fath¬ 
er's notes. 

“ Ah," he said with an air of finality, “ Greek! 
Now tel) me, my dear lady, what a salesgirl wants 
with Greek. It is proof positive. I need look no 
farther. Of course I had no notion that I would 
find any of the purloined goods here in her room. 
Those, no doubt, she has taken to the home of con¬ 
federates. Now my task will be to find where 


Too Many Detectives 77 

those persons live and recover the stolen articles 
and place the criminals behind bars.” 

“ How terrible! I can’t think of Josie in such 
surroundings.” 

“ Remember, you are to help me, dear Polly. 
I can’t tell you what your assistance in this mat¬ 
ter will mean to me. You need have no compunc¬ 
tions in the matter. Remember that this girl is 
false as sin to have palmed herself off on you and 
your innocent daughter. She has not considered 
you in the slightest. Now promise that you will 
telephone me if the least thing arises to increase 
your suspicion, or better than that, get a taxi and 
come to me immediately. Burnett & Burnett will 
reimburse you for any expenses incurred. Here 
is my card with my home address and telephone 
number in case something should occur of import 
between now and Monday. You promise? ” 

“ We-e-11 ye-e-s—but somehow I—” 

“ Of course you have compunctions. That is 
your kind heart. All of the Bainbridges were 
kind hearted—but all of them were also noted for 
being law abiding. Now it is the duty of every 
citizen to help the law to track criminals. It is 
kinder to get them while they are young than 
wait until they are hardened to crime. Now this 


78 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

young person may be saved if she is cut off from 
evildoing while she is yet soft and tender. She 
will be placed in a home of correction and taught 
a useful trade, while if she is allowed to escape 
and pursue her wicked ways she may even end on 
the gallows. One crime leads to another and 
shoplifting may develop into arson and murder. ’ 9 

“ All right! all right! 99 cried the poor dis¬ 
tracted Mrs. Leslie. “ I promise to do what you 
ask of me—but somehow it seems mighty inhospi¬ 
table. I wish my suspicions had never been 
aroused.” 

“ Exactly! But now that they are aroused I 
am sure you will live up to the traditions of your 
excellent family and do your duty in spite of any 
gentle feminine compunctions you may have.” 

The major had read his hostess aright. His 
appeal to the traditions of her family were too 
much for her, and although her sympathy could 
but be enlisted with the supposedly desperate 
young criminal lodging with her, she felt she must 
uphold law and order, and before her guest took 
his pompous departure she had promised him 
faithfully to communicate with him if the slight¬ 
est suspicious action on the part of Josie evinced 
itself. 


CHAPTER VH 


THE MEDDLESOME MAJOR CALLS 

The jaunt to Linden Heights had consumed a 
good part of Josie’s afternoon hut it had given 
her food for thought and cheered her up. Noth¬ 
ing so cheered Josie as a problem to solve. Why 
should the handsome, chilly Miss Pauntleroy give 
a fictitious address? Why should she he so cross 
and heartless in her manner with the fradulent 
old beggar woman? Not that the beggar women 
had seemed to mind; on the contrary she had 
seemed highly amused by the tongue lashing from 
the proud beauty. Rather a pleasant old beggar 
woman she seemed. It was rather nice of her 
not to want to sell Josie the rumpled newspaper. 
She had seemed really distressed that she should 
have taken it. That was because she, Josie, had 
been decent to her. Josie smiled and patted the 
bulging pocket of her neat sport coat which still 
held the rumpled journal. No doubt the old wo¬ 
man was a fraud but she was at least a kindly, 
good-natured one. 


79 


80 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

As Josie turned the corner at Meadow Street 
she could plainly see two persons coming down 
the steps at No. 11. She was sure that one of 
them was Major Simpson and the other one the 
youth who lived in apartment 3, and whose iden¬ 
tity was still a mystery to her. However, the 
problem of who the young man might be troubled 
Josie very little at that moment. What occupied 
her thoughts was why should Major Simpson be 
coming from that apartment house. Could he 
have been trying to find her whereabouts ? If so, 
had the Burnett’s disclosed the fact that she was 
employed by them, over his head as it were! 

Josie had thought for a moment that Major 
Simpson and the youth were together, but in this 
she was mistaken. They had merely happened 
to come down the steps at the same time. The 
old man proceeded down the street while the 
young one came towards Josie. He was evidently 
unaware of her approach, Josie as usual wearing 
an aura of inconspicuousness that enabled her to 
pass persons without being noticed. But it so 
happened that as the young man got within a few 
feet of the girl he caught her eye. Josie was sure 
that for the flick of an eyelash there was recog¬ 
nition in his glance. Of course it might have been 


The Meddlesome Major Calls 81 

that he was aware of the fact that she lived in an 
apartment next to the one occupied by his family. 
But no! That glance of recognition had some¬ 
thing furtive in it. Again she was sure that she 
had seen the youth before. Something about the 
spacing of his features was strangely familiar, 
something about his chin, the contour of his olive 
cheek. 

“ Well, time will tell, as Father used to say,” 
Josie mused, “ and in the meantime I must get 
busy about other things.” 

Mrs. Leslie’s manner was, to say the least, 
highly artificial when she greeted Josie on her 
return. The lady flushed and fluttered, treating 
Josie more like a guest than a member of the 
family. 

“ Let me take your coat, do,” she insisted. 

“ No, indeed.” 

“ Would you like a cup of coffee and some fresh 
doughnuts? ” 

‘ 6 I certainly should! But let me come to the 
kitchen and attend to myself.” 

“ Oh no, I’ll bring a tray for you.” So the 
hostess burdened Josie with attentions, all the 
time with a strained excitement in her manner. 

“ I thought I saw Major Simpson coming from 


82 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

this house, just as I came around the comer. 
Could it have been he ? He is Burnett & Burnett ’s 
private detective.’’ 

Mrs. Leslie was not a good dissembler but re¬ 
membering the policy laid out for her by Major 
Simpson, she at first pretended she had burnt her 
hand on the coif ee pot and must run put some soda 
on it and then when Josie repeated her question 
she feigned not to hear aright. 

“ Simpkins? Nobody has been here of that 
name.” 

“ No, Simpson—Major Simpson—perhaps he 
has acquaintances in the building. There was no 
reason why I should jump to the conclusion that 
he had been here, certainly no personal reason.” 

Josie did not push her inquiry because she 
realized that for some reason or other Mrs. Leslie 
was concealing something from her in regard 
to Major Simpson. What it was she could not 
divine, but the lady’s heightened color and 
strained, artificial manner meant something be¬ 
sides the usual Saturday baking. Her deliberate 
misunderstanding of the name of Simpson was 
too apparent to fool the astute Josie. She came 
to the conclusion that the old detective had been 
calling on Mrs. Leslie and for some reason she 


The Meddlesome Major Calls 83 

had been told by him to keep the matter a secret. 

i ‘ Mysteries and more mysteries! ’ ’ thought 
Josie. “ I wonder what Father would have said 
to this.” 

As soon as she finished her luncheon of coffee 
and doughnuts she went to her room, determined 
to read a little in her leather bound book. She 
opened the top drawer. A sudden consciousness 
came to her that someone had been meddling there 
during her absence. In the first place her beloved 
book was not as she had placed it—close in the 
comer, back out—but had evidently been exam¬ 
ined by someone and then tossed carelessly back 
into the drawer. 

“ Don’t be such an old maid! ” Josie admon¬ 
ished herself. “ It doesn’t mean a thing. Per¬ 
haps Mrs. Leslie had some curiosity about my 
belongings. It is pardonable for a poor lady who 
has mighty little to occupy her mind to open up a 
lodger’s drawer and snoop around a little.” 

Wait, what was that? Certainly Mrs. Leslie did 
not wear heavy gold cuff links, in fact Josie had 
noted particularly that her landlady’s house 
dresses were all made with sleeves cut a little be¬ 
low the elbow and that she never wore cuffs. She, 
then, was not the meddler who had left evidence 


84 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

of his or her presence in Josie’s top drawer in 
the shape of part of a heavy gold cuff link. Josie 
picked it up gingerly. There was a large heavily 
engraved letter S on the flat button. 

*‘ If he had left a visiting card for me I could 
not be more certain that old Major Simpson has 
been calling, ,, laughed Josie to herself. “But 
why? And why is Mrs. Leslie so silent about it? 
And above all, how am I to act now? One thing 
sure, I must not let the poor dear lady know that 
I am on to the fact that she is concealing some¬ 
thing from me. I don’t believe Mary is in on this 
mystery, whatever it is, but I’ll wait until she 
comes home and test it.” 

Josie put the broken link carefully away in 
her purse and then sat down to do a little nec¬ 
essary mending on her coat, a button loose here 
and a tiny rip in one of the pockets. She drew 
forth the twisted afternoon paper, throwing it 
carelessly on the bed and again she thought of 
the proud Miss Fauntleroy and her rudeness 
to the old beggar woman. She heard Mary come 
in and her mother’s question: 

“ Did you bring an afternoon paper? ” 

“ Oh, I forgot! I’ll run get you one immedi¬ 
ately. I’m so sorry, Mother.” 


The Meddlesome Major Calls 85 

Josie smiled. Mary always forgot the paper 
on Saturday afternoon and Mrs. Leslie never 
forgot to ask her about it. 

“ I have the early edition/’ Josie called from 
her room. “ Don’t go out again, Mary. It’s 
rather rumpled but I guess I can smooth it out.” 

Josie reached for the afternoon paper and be¬ 
gan straightening it out just as Mrs. Leslie ap¬ 
peared at the half opened door of the bed 
room. The girl was astonished to find that there 
was a parcel of some sort wrapped within the 
folds of the paper. It dropped out on the bed 
and then slipped to the floor. Mrs. Leslie stepped 
forward and stooped to pick it up but Josie, ever 
quick and agile, was before her. The tissue pa¬ 
per package tore and disclosed a crumpled mass 
of filmy lace and, gleaming through its folds, a 
golden mesh purse. 

“ What is that?” demanded Mrs. Leslie 
sharply. 

“I’m sure I don’t know. It seemed to be 
wrapped up in the afternoon paper which has 
been reposing in my pocket all afternoon,” said 
Josie, coolly. “ How it got there I’ll leave you 
to find out. I must hurry out again as I find I 
have an important matter to attend to.” 


86 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

Josie’s quick eye had recognized a Burnett & 
Burnett tag on the purse and her quicker mind 
had traveled like lightning back to the time Miss 
Fauntleroy had angrily twisted the paper and 
cast it in the old beggar’s basket. Then she re¬ 
membered how loath the old woman had been 
to let her buy that particular paper. 

She stuffed the parcel of lace in her pocket, 
placed the delicately wrought mesh bag in her 
own purse, and without waiting to hear what Mrs. 
Leslie had to say she hurried into the street and 
hailed a passing taxi. 


CHAPTER Vin 


MARY KEEPS THE FAITH 

“ Stop her! Stop her! ” Mrs. Leslie called 
to Mary. 4 4 She ’s a thief — an out and out 
thief! ” 

44 Mother! You must he demented! ” exclaimed 
Mary. 44 Do calm yourself. You can’t mean 
Josie O’Gorman.” 

44 I do mean Josie O’Gorman and I rue the 
day we ever took her in. I thought all the time 
her French accent was too good to he true. Now 
I have seen what she has stolen — seen it with 
my own eyes. Her clothes are of too good mate¬ 
rial for a girl who can’t make very large wages 
and her shoes are too fine for one who rents a 
little room from us— ” 

44 Mother, Mother! Please calm yourself and 
tell me what you are talking about. What has 
Josie seemed to have stolen, because I am sure 
she has only seemed to have. I could swear she 
is honest — swear it on the Bible.” 

44 Major Simpson was right — horribly right — 

87 


88 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

and now I must get hold of him immediately — 
I promised — Oh, but I also promised not to let 
you know anything about it and here I have 
blurted it out.” Mrs. Leslie was walking up and 
down the living room like a caged tigress, literally 
tearing her hair. 

“ Now, Mother, take this dose of aromatic spir¬ 
its of ammonia and then sit down and tell me 
quietly all that is troubling you.” 

“ Here, give me the ammonia, but I haven’t 
time to sit down. I must phone to Major Simp¬ 
son as soon as possible. Thank goodness we have 
had a phone put in. Only suppose we did not 
have one. What a time I would have. Pd have 
to dress myself and go out on the street and 
maybe wait in line at a public booth ” 

“ Major Simpson! Who on earth? Is he the 
old gentleman from our county you used to know 
when you were a little girl — the one who gave 
you a pink parasol once? ” 

“ Yes, the same — and he has been here to see 
me — so kind and courtly — so anxious for our 
welfare — so pleased to see me and anxious to 
meet you. He is Burnett & Burnett’s private 
detective and is on the track of this Josie O’Gor- 
man. I promised to help him and now that I 


Mary Keeps the Faith 89 

have actually seen her with the stolen goods in 
her pocket I am going to tell him about it.” 

* i Oh, Mother, you surely cannot bring yourself 
to shame a dear girl like Josie. She can explain 
it I am sure. She is a member of the family and 
our duty is to protect her.” 

“ Not at all! Our duty is to bring her to jus¬ 
tice. The law is the law and we have no right 
to take it in our own hands. I am not saying 
I am not fond of Josie — I cannot help liking 
her although I have seen, with my own eyes, 
stuff in her coat pocket; a great bunch of lace 
that Major Simpson says is worth hundreds of 
dollars and a gold mesh purse, imported and 
worth I don't know how much. She saw I saw 
too, and when I asked her what she meant by 
having the things she said she was sure she didn’t 
know but would leave me to find out and then 
she hurried out as cool as you please. Major 
Simpson had just told me, not fifteen minutes 
before, that those identical things had been stolen 
from the shop and he had a kind of idea from 
various things that had occurred that Josie was 
the shoplifter they have been trying to catch for 
months. Indeed I think he is a marvelously clever 
gentleman to track her as he did. I promised 


90 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

him I would help if the slightest thing that looked 
suspicious should turn up, and now I must keep 
my word.” 

Mrs. Leslie took down the receiver of the re¬ 
cently installed telephone and consulting the card 
Major Simpson had left with her, called a num¬ 
ber. 

“ Mother, Mother! ” cried Mary. “ The only 
reason I can bear your doing this is that I know 
dear Josie can explain. Perhaps it is best to 
give her a chance rather than to go on suspect¬ 
ing her of a heinous crime. As soon as she comes 
in I shall quite frankly ask an explanation of 
her and I am sure she will be as anxious to clear 
her name of this charge as I am to have it 
cleared.” 

Mrs. Leslie could not answer her daughter as 
at that moment she heard Ma^'or Simpson on the 
line. 

“ Yes, Major, it is Mrs. Leslie — Polly Bain- 
bridge that was. That girl has come in and with 
my own eyes I have seen a package of lace that 
looked as fine as fine can be and a beautiful little 
gold mesh purse. 

“ Where is she, you say? Gone! Gone in the 
twinkling of an eye. Up and out before I could say 


Mary Keeps the Faith 91 

‘ boo ’ to her. She just stuffed the things in her 
pocket when she realized I had seen them and 
without endeavoring to make the least explana¬ 
tion, but feigning a kind of stupid ignorance of 
what she was doing with them, she clapped on 
her hat, pulled on her coat, and was gone. 

“ Will she come back, you say? I don’t know 
Major Simpson, I am sure. She has left all her 
things here, but I should think she would be afraid 
to come back when she knows I know she has 
stolen those things. I have no idea where she 
went. She just said she had urgent business to 
attend to and was gone. 

“ Could I swear to the things? Well, Major 
Simpson, I should hate to have to, but if the 
worst comes to the worst I certainly can put my 
hand on the Bible and swear that I saw Josie 
O’Gorman put in her pocket a parcel from which 
had fallen a gold mesh purse with one of Burnett 
& Burnett’s tags on it and that the parcel cer¬ 
tainly contained a great deal of filmy lace. How 
much I could not say as it was twisted up into a 
tight package. I am sorry, Major, but my daugh¬ 
ter was in the apartment at the time and I was 
forced to tell her of what I had learned about 
our lodger. Yes, she is very sad over it and says 


92 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

she will ask the girl all about it as soon as she 
returns. Mary is just like her father, so kind 
that she thinks nobody in the world is wicked. 

“ Oh, you say she must not mention the mat¬ 
ter to Miss O’Gorman. All right, Major Simp¬ 
son I Mary is a good girl and I am sure she will 
obey me, but she is so fond of this Miss O’Gor- 
man that it will go hard with her to help trap 
the poor thing. Yes, of course I understand it 
is our duty to aid the law where criminals are 
concerned. Ill do all I can, but it goes against 
the grain somehow. Yes, she was right down 
brazen about the things being in her room. Of 
course she didn’t know I knew anything about 
them — in fact, I pretended I didn’t hear her 
when she asked if you had been here. She 
thought she saw you coming out of the house as 
she turned the corner. Of course that shows she 
has a guilty conscience to think you had been 
here. Well, Major Simpson, I’ll do my best, not 
only because it is my duty but because you are 
an old neighbor. I’ll call you if she comes back. 
Oh, of course I must pretend it is some other 
matter and not call your name because she could 
hear me phoning. Perhaps I’d better go out to 
a public booth. That would be best. 


Mary Keeps the Faith 93 

66 You say just call your number and ask for 
Mr. Silvester and say ‘ The lemons have come 9 
and you will understand! That will be fine. Well, 
good bye! ” 

Mary had listened to the foregoing harangue 
with a sinking heart. It was easy to gather from 
her mother’s part in the conversation what the 
old gentleman’s share had been. She well knew 
her mother’s failing, if failing it was, a love of 
a mystery and how she had always flattered her¬ 
self that she knew human nature. She also knew 
that her mother’s kind heart always got the bet¬ 
ter of what she was pleased to call i her better 
judgment,’ and if matters should come to a show¬ 
down that she would probably expend more en¬ 
ergy in her endeavor to protect a criminal than 
in convicting one. Mary was sure that her friend 
was innocent and it was sorely against her will 
that she was made to promies that in the event 
of Josie’s return to the apartment she would say 
nothing to her about lace, mesh bags, shoplifting 
or portly old private detectives. 

“ Just be perfectly natural in your manner,” 
commanded her mother. ‘ 1 Behave as I do — 
not that I think she will return. It would be 
entirely too dangerous now that she suspects Ma- 


94 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

jor Simpson has been here. She certainly real¬ 
izes that I saw the purloined articles.” 

“ But her clothes! What will she do without 
her clothes? ” 

“ Why, my dear, criminals of that sort never 
stop for clothes. She may have rooms all over 
the city as far as we know and as many aliases 
as she has rooms. There is no telling how long 
she has been living in Wakely. Major Simpson 
says these robberies have been going on ever so 
long at Burnett & Burnett’s and he rather thinks 
this girl may be responsible for all of them.” 

“ Oh, Mother! I can’t believe this is really 
you talking this way. Why, Josie is almost like 
a sister to me I have grown so fond of her, and 
I am sure she loves you dearly. If we should 
have suspicion cast on us she would not believe 
we were wicked but would do her best to help 
us. After all, you have not a thing to go on but 
what a silly old man says.” 

“ Major Silvester Simpson is far from being 
a silly old man. He is an elegant, courtly gentle¬ 
man,” Mrs. Leslie retaliated with some heat. 
“ He is not only from our county but from the 
very best blood in the county, and what he says 
and thinks has much more weight with me than 


Mary Keeps the Faith 95 

protestations of innocence from a little Miss No¬ 
body/ ’ 

Mary felt that silence was the only thing with 
which to combat her mother's argument, so with 
a sad face, and wiping away a few tears that she 
could not keep back, she endeavored to lose her¬ 
self in a book until Josie should return, for cer¬ 
tain she was that their little lodger would return. 

Mary and her mother were usually in accord 
and both of them felt exceedingly uncomfortable 
that a disagreement had arisen. Mrs. Leslie 
busied herself with her embroidery, looking up 
every now and then at her daughter and sighing 
involuntarily. Mary endeavored to read but tears 
would dim her eyes which necessitated a furtive 
use of her handkerchief. Both of them missed 
the gay intimate chatter that it was their custom 
to indulge in. Mary was the first to break the 
silence. 

“ By the way, Mother, I saw another beggar 
in the hall. This time it was an old woman, at 
least her hair was gray, though she certainly 
could step along at a lively rate. I saw her ac¬ 
tually running up the steps exactly as though a 
mad dog was after her. I was coming in our 
door and my impression was that she was going 


96 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

in No. 3, but it looked kind of prying for me to 
wait and see. That Mrs. Kambourian must be 
a very charitable lady with the tramp mark on 
her door.” 

“ Well, well! What have we come to? I think 
you and I had better go back to the country, Mary, 
what with beggars and shoplifters right in the 
same house with us. Now in the country we never 
had such things happen.” 

Mary laughed. 

“ But, Mother, remember how the Taylor’s dog 
killed our sheep; and weasels slit the throats of 
the chickens; and the turtles in the branch got 
our ducklings; and the crows ate the corn before 
it had time to sprout; and the city man shot your 
prize gobbler thinking it was a wild turkey; and 
old Uncle Eben’s pipe burnt up the tobacco barn.” 

“ Yes, yes, but none of those things were hu¬ 
man beings doing wrong, not even Uncle Eben’s 
pipe. Here in the city it is human beings that 
worry a poor woman to death.” 

“ Are you so worried, Mother? I thought you 
were rather enjoying yourself.” 

“ Well, Mary, I believe you are right. I am 
enjoying myself and feel that I am living in the 
pages of an exciting detective story.” 


Mary Keeps the Faith 97, 

“ If only it has a happy ending! ” sighed Mary. 
“ In detective tales the one you think did the 
crime never is the right one and I believe this 
tale will work out that way. I am sure my dear 
Josie will prove to be as good as we have thought 
she was all the time.” 

“ Perhaps you are right, Mary. Anyhow we 
must read the story to the end and not skip any. 
If Josie is innocent it will all come out in the 
last chapter.” 

Then mother and daughter kissed and were 
happy again as they sat and waited for the de¬ 
tective story to develop. 


CHAPTER IX 


WHO IS MISS FAUNTLEROY 

Josie’s taxi carried her quickly to the home 
of Mr. Theodore Burnett. Fortunately she found 
him in. The old colored butler who answered 
the bell seemed greatly astonished that a young 
lady should he calling on the master of the house 
and not on his mother and sisters. 

“ You mean OP Miss, don't you lady, I mean 
Mrs. Burnett and Miss Lily an’ Miss May? 
They's all to home an’ I wouldn't be 'stonished 
if they ain't 'spectin' of you 'case they done tol' 
me tea in the settin' room at five sharp." 

“ No, Uncle," laughed Josie, “ this is a busi¬ 
ness call and I must see Mr. Burnett immediately. 
Please give him my card." 

‘ ‘ All right, lady, but — well all right! I reckon 
I mought jes' as well take you right off in ter the 
liberry if you air so 'termined lak ter see the 
boss. He ain't so partial ter doin' business of 
a Sat'day. Don't you reckon you mought pros- 
pone it 'til Monday? " 


98 


Who Is Miss Fauntleroy? 99 

“ No, I must see him now. If you take him 
my card I am sure he will see me. ’ 9 

“ Yassum, but I hate ter pester him so. He’s 
worrited enough what with sneak thieves a liftin’ 
goods off’n the sto’ right under the nose of these 
here detecertives he done pay out so much money 
to. I hearn him a tellin’ OP Miss sumpen ’bout 
it at lunch time,” 

“ Where is the library? 99 asked Josie, deter¬ 
mination in her voice. 

“ Well, lady, it air right back yonder— 99 

“ What is the matter, Uncle Abe? ” The ques¬ 
tion was asked by a pleasant looking young 
woman whose likeness to Mr. Theodore Burnett 
gave Josie the assurance that she was his sister. 
She had overheard sounds of an altercation from 
the upper hall and leaning over the bannisters 
spied Josie. 

“ I must see Mr. Burnett immediately ,’ 9 said 
the girl. “It is important and I beg of you to 
inform him that I am here. I am Miss O’Gor- 
man from the store.” 

“ O-O-h! Are you really?” and Miss Lily 
Burnett sailed down the stairs rapidly. “ My 
brother has told us a lot about you and we have 
been anxious to meet you. Uncle Abe, you must 


100 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

tell Mr. Teddy immediately that Miss O’Gorman 
is here. Please come in, and when you and 
Brother Teddy get through your business talk 
we will be so glad if you will have tea with us. 
Now don’t say ‘ no.’ ” 

There was a sweet frankness about Miss Lily 
Burnett’s voice and manner that appealed to 
Josie but she felt that for the time being she 
must forego the pleasure of tea with the family 
of her employer. 

“ I am very sony, but I am too busy to stop 
with you to-day,” she said. 

“ Well then, promise another day! ” and Josie 
promised and was at last shown into the library 
where the master of the house and the junior 
partner of the firm sat in some dejection, attempt¬ 
ing to read but evidently restless and preoccu¬ 
pied. 

“ Miss O’Gorman! ” Mr. Theodore exclaimed, 
jumping up. “ I have been w r ondering how I 
could get hold of you. Of course I had your 
address but no telephone number. I have wanted 
very much to have a talk with you ever since 
Major Simpson told me he was going to hunt 
you up. He found you, did he not? I don’t know 
how the old fellow happened to catch on to your 


Who Is Miss Fcmntleroy? 101 

being what you are. He is more astute than we 
thought. Perhaps calling himself a detective for 
so many years has finally made him one.” 

Josie began to laugh. 

“ He has found out where I live and as far 
as I can make out he has sworn my landlady to 
secrecy in regard to his having tracked me. He 
has a mystery up his sleeve and for the life of 
me I cannot make it out. But I am not here to 
discuss Major Simpson and you have not told 
me why you wanted to talk to me. First let me 
ask you if a shoplifter has been at work again 
and carried off several yards of exquisite lace and 
a gold mesh bag? ” 

“ How did you find that out? Major Simpson 
must have had a leakage somewhere. Ah, per¬ 
haps you have seen one of the sales ladies? ” 

“ Worse and more of it! I have found the 
goods in my own pocket.” Josie produced the 
stolen articles and laid them on the library table. 
“ It seems almost too good to- be true that my 
pocket was the one chosen, and it also convinces 
me that my father was right when he declared 
truth to be stranger than fiction. A real detec¬ 
tive tale would never sell with such a thing as 
this happening in it.” 


102 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

She then recounted in detail the story of how 
Miss Fauntleroy bought the paper and then twist¬ 
ing it up angrily returned it to the old newsie, 
and how the woman seemed genuinely distressed 
that she, Josie, should take the rumpled paper. 

“ Of course these two are the ones to watch 
now — Miss Fauntleroy and the old beggar 
woman at your back entrance. Miss Fauntleroy 
does not live at the address she gave Burnett & 
Burnett.” 

“ Are you sure! How do you know! ” 

“ Yes, I am sure, and I know because this af¬ 
ternoon I went out to the address she gave and 
there is nothing but a frog pond at that number 
on Linden Bow, Linden Heights. In fact, there 
are no houses at all on Linden Bow. It has but 
recently been put on the market — a half-hearted 
attempt at a real estate boom, I fancy, and the 
houses are all 6 castles in Spain. ’ The question 
now is: Where does Miss Fauntleroy live and 
what connection has she with the beggar at the 
gate! We must go very quietly so as not to scare 
her off. I am a little uneasy now that you tell 
me Major Simpson is to cooperate with me.” 

“ Ah, but I did not say that! Merely that he 
seems to be aware of the fact that you are not 


103 


Who Is Miss Fauntleroy? 

just a shop girl. He came to the office in great 
excitement a little while after the theft was re¬ 
ported and wanted your address. He seemed to 
think that through you he might track the whole 
gang, if gang there is, of shoplifters.” 

“ That being the case, why should he be so 
secret about it when once he found my address? 
Why should he not wait until I got home and 
talk the thing over with me? Why should he 
persuade Mrs. Leslie, the dear lady with whom 
I am boarding, to keep so dark about his having 
been there? Why, Mr. Burnett, he has even 
snooped around my bedroom and peeped in my 
bureau drawers.’’ 

“ Surely not, Miss O’Gorman! How do you 
know? ” 

“ I know because a little book, of which I am 
very fond, had been moved.” 

“ Taken away? ” 

“ Oh no, just turned around with the edges 
out instead of in. I always put it in the corner 
of my drawer, turning the back out.” 

Mr. Burnett laughed. “ Heaven’s above! What 
an inventory taker you would make — or house¬ 
keeper for Sherlock Holmes. But, my dear young 
lady, why should you think that poor old Sylves- 


104 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

ter Simpson was guilty of such — such sacrilege? 
Could not your nice landlady have done that? 
Did he leave finger prints on the book and have 
you examined it with a magnifying glass? ” 

“ No doubt he did and I would have examined 
it and perhaps photographed the finger prints 
had it been necessary, but the deft detective did 
worse things than leave finger prints,” answered 
Josie, good naturedly accepting her employer’s 
banter. 

“ What could be worse? ” 

“ His cuff link broke in my drawer,” she said, 
producing the telltale bit of gold. “ Would you 
like to see Major Simpson when I supply the 
missing link? ” 

“ I should, above all things. But seriously, 
what do you make of his behavior? 99 
“ Wliat do you? ” 

“Answered like an Irishman! You know an 
Irishman always answers an unanswerable ques¬ 
tion by asking another,” laughed Mr. Burnett. 
“ Frankly, I don’t know; but then, I am a plain 
merchant and not a young lady detective. If I 
had to answer your question off hand I think 
I should say that the old man has gone a little 
crazy and thinks you are the shoplifter— ” 


Who Is Miss Fauntieroy? 105 

“ Exactly! ” cried Josie. u You have hit the 
nail on the head, Mr. Burnett, and I give you 
all credit for solving the mystery of i The Major 
and the Maiden.’ I find very often in my work 
that the sane opinion of a sensible business man 
who makes no pretense of being able to unscrew 
the inscrutible is worth more than all the sleuth¬ 
ing in the world. I don’t know why I did not 
think of that myself. Of course he thinks I am 
responsible for all thefts past, present and future. 
That is the reason he has been following me 
around so much. And just think, I thought it 
was because he knew about my father.” 

Then Josie laughed heartily at her own stupid¬ 
ity, and Mr. Burnett joined in. At that moment 
his sister Lily put her head in the library door 
and the other sister, May, looked in over Lily’s 
shoulder and they laughed, too. Although they 
hadn’t the slightest idea what it was all about, 
they were sure it was a good joke that was bring¬ 
ing forth such spontaneous merriment from their 
much admired brother. 

“ Now, Brother Teddy, you need not pretend 
you and Miss O’Gorman are discussing private 
business matters if you are laughing like that. 
There could not possibly be anything about busi- 


106 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

ness that would be so funny, ” declared Lily. “ I 
met Miss O’Gorman in the hall. Now I want 
May to meet her and I want both of you to come 
on in the living room and have some tea.” 

“ Indeed we will,” declared Mr. Burnett. “ I 
have been wanting Miss 0 'Gorman to let you call 
on her ever since she has been here, but she is 
such a stickler in a way for business etiquette 
that she has refused. Now, Sister Lily, we have 
her in spite of herself.” 

Josie did not mind at all being had in spite 
of herself. The day had been a trying one and 
it was pleasant to sit by the cheerful grate fire 
in the comfortable, homelike living room and have 
Lily and May serve the tea while she talked to 
Mr. Burnett and his charming old mother, who 
was a delightfully witty old lady in voluminous 
skirts and a dainty lace cap — a veritable “ OP 
Miss.” 

“ Now, Miss O’Gorman, I want you to tell the 
ladies of my family all about it. They are very 
remarkable women and know when to keep se¬ 
crets. I am sure what you tell them will go no 
farther. My mother is a great reader of mystery 
tales and she will be vastly interested in what 
you have to say.” 


Who Is Miss Fauntleroyf 107 

So Josie told all the happenings since she had 
come to Wakely — not that much had happened 
except Major Simpson's dogging of her every 
move — until that very day when things had 
moved fast and furiously. 

“ And you actually have the stolen things right 
here in this house? " asked the mother. 

“ Right here," said the son, and he went to 
the library and brought back the purloined ar¬ 
ticles. “ Of course the ridiculous part of it all 
is that Major Simpson thinks Miss 0'Gorman is 
a clever shoplifter instead of being about the 
most successful female detective we have any¬ 
where. 9 ' 

“ Oh please— 99 blushed Josie. 

“ Well, you know you are, at least that is what 
your Captain Lonsdale says. I am wondering 
what old Simp will say when he finds out the 
goods have been returned." 

“ Of course he will say that he knew all the 
time I had the things and I brought them back 
because I was afraid of your sending me to jail. 
By the way, if I had been a thief it would cer¬ 
tainly have been a dramatic move to bring the 
things to you. It would have disarmed you com¬ 
pletely, would it not? " 


108 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

“ I guess it would.’’ 

“ And now I must go,” said Josie. “ I am 
wondering all the time what my dear friends the 
Leslies are thinking about me. Mrs. Leslie saw 
the lace and gold bag as soon as I did and she 
expressed her astonishment. Heavens! Do you 
think Major Simpson could have informed her of 
the theft this afternoon! Of course he did and 
now Mary and her mother think I am the guilty 
party.” 


CHAPTER X 


“ THE WATERMELONS HAVE COME ” 

Mr. Burnett would not hear of Josie’s leaving 
until he had ordered his car. 

“ I’ll take you myself/ r he insisted. 

“ But suppose Major Simpson sees us,” 
laughed Josie. 

“ Oh, won't that be delicious? ” from May. 
“ Do you fancy he will think Brother Teddy is 
shoplifting from himself? ” 

“ Of course, if he sees me driving around with 
a bunch of lace and a gold mesh bag he could 
come to no other conclusion.” 

‘‘Well! I have been called many things, but 
never before a bunch of lace and a gold mesh 
bag,” said Josie, buttoning her neat sport coat. 
“ Wait, let me see that there is nothing in my 
pockets that does not belong to me, because if 
I don't look out I’ll be arrested yet.” 

“ Now, my dear,” said Mrs. Burnett, “I am 
going to make you promise to come and dine with 
us very soon. I want to hear some of the many 
109 


110 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

tales of tlie criminals you have caught up with. 
I know you think that is a strange taste for an 
old lady like me, hut I simply dote on detective 
stories and I am sure you know interesting things 
that don’t get in books.” 

1 ‘ Please do! Please do! ” chorused the sis¬ 
ters, and Josie promised, although she had her 
doubts aTxmt the* advisability of accepting such 
an invitation, certainly not until the shoplifting 
plot was unraveled. 

Mr. Theodore Burnett’s car was a new one, 
large and elegant, with silver mountings, and 
painted a midnight blue. Josie could not resist a 
sly smile at herself when the owner helped her in 
so carefully. She wondered what Min and Gertie 
and Jane would say could they see her riding 
around in such luxury. 

“ Perhaps you had better let me out at the 
corner and not take me all the way to my door,” 
she suggested. 

“ Nonsense! ” insisted Mr. Burnett. “ I am 
not accustomed to dumping young ladies at the 
corner.” 

As it was a well known fact that Mr. Theodore 
Burnett was not accustomed to driving young 
ladies around at all, and since young ladies must 


“ The Watermelons Have Come 99 111 

be driven before they can be dumped, no doubt 
he was speaking the truth. Nevertheless, Josie 
insisted on being dumped, if not at the corner, 
at least not in front of the shabby apartment 
house. He compromised by bringing the car to 
a standstill four doors from No. 11. 

Had Josie not been so occupied in bidding Mr. 
Burnett good-bye she would have seen that Mrs. 
Leslie was on the stoop of the apartment house, 
peering anxiously into the winter twilight. She 
had seen the handsome car pass and drive up to 
the curb and then her little lodger alight with 
the courteous assistance of a very good looking 
gentleman verging onto middle age. 

As the afternoon wore on Mrs. Leslie’s con¬ 
cern for Josie had outweighed her suspicions. 
Suppose she did not come back — what then 
would happen to her! She regretted exceedingly 
that she had permitted herself to be drawn into 
Major Simpson’s plot to entrap the young girl. 
Who could tell what temptations she had had! 
She thought of her own Mary. Her life had been 
sheltered, her rearing, careful, her training, 
Christian. Perhaps Josie O’Gorman had never 
known a mother’s and father’s care. Was it the 
part of a Christian woman with a daughter of 


112 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

her own to try to catch and bring to justice a 
poor young thing who trusted her — she might 
even say loved her? How much better it would 
be to warn the girl and try to reform her than 
betray her and have her sent to prison where no 
doubt she would be taught a lesson but in the 
teaching might become a hardened criminal. Cer¬ 
tainly Josie was no hardened criminal yet. Crim¬ 
inal she might be but there was something very 
kind and sweet about the poor thing. 

“ If only I had not promised Major Simpson! ” 
she said to herself over and over. “ If only I 
had not told him about the lace and the gold mesh 
bag! He is started now and there is no stopping 
him. It would be different if Josie was the kind 
of girl that flirted or ran around with men. 
There is nothing like that about her at all. She 
is so refined, so circumspect. She may be a klep¬ 
tomaniac, poor little thing, and not be able to 
resist stealing. I have a great mind to go in 
the house this minute and phone the Major that 
I will no longer aid and abet him in this cruel 
pursuit of the poor young thing.” 

Mrs. Leslie had come out on the stoop for the 
third time, hoping and yet fearing to see Josie 
returning. Just as she had come to the conclu- 


“ The Watermelons Have Come 99 113 

sion to give her old neighbor and friend an ulti¬ 
matum concerning her lodger — since she was so 
refined and was not the kind of girl to flirt or 
go joy riding with strange men — the large blue 
car came rolling up the street past No. 11 and 
stopped a few doors off. 

Meadow was a quiet street, shabby and un¬ 
pretentious. Few handsome automobiles passed 
that way and if they did they seldom stopped. 
Mrs. Leslie was attracted by its new and shining 
splendor and when it came to a full stop close 
to the curb and no less a person than her abused 
lodger alighted and stood for a moment talking 
gaily with the handsome, well dressed owner of 
the car, Mrs. Leslie's heart hardened again and 
she hurried into the house to inform the Major 
that the prodigal had returned. 

“ What number? What number? ” was all the 
satisfaction Mrs. Leslie could get from her new 
telephone. Of course this was most irritating 
when she wanted to get the message over to Ma¬ 
jor Simpson before Josie should get in the apart¬ 
ment. The operator was stupid or the line was 
crossed or something, at any rate Josie was in 
the hall before the connection was made. Then 
the distracted lady was sure that Major Simp- 


114 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

son at the other end bellowed quite loud enough 
for Josie to hear him, although she was all the 
way across the room from the telephone. 

*‘ Well! Well! This is Sylvester Simpson — 
Major Simpson of Burnett & Burnett’s. What 
is it? Who are you? What do you want? ” 

Mrs. Leslie could hardly refrain from calling 
him an old idiot. If he had not come from her 
county and belonged to such a highly respectable 
family she would have done so. As it was she 
merely said: “ Hello! Hello! 99 all the time 
trying to remember what she was to say if Josie 
got back. She knew it was something connected 
with picnics, hut the major’s bellowing and stu¬ 
pidity had driven it from her mind. She did 
not know why she had connected the cryptic code 
with picnics — she couldn’t remember that or 
anything else. She only knew that Josie O’Gor¬ 
man had come driving up in a very handsome 
blue car and had been standing chatting very 
intimately with a handsome stranger when, so 
far as she knew, her lodger had no acquaintances 
in Wakely. Why had the car not stopped in 
front of the apartment house? That in itself was 
shady. She also knew that she had promised 
Major Silvester Simpson to let him know when 


** The Watermelons Have Come 99 115 

Josie returned if she ever did return. She was 
to name no names but merely say that something 
that was in some way connected with picnics had 
come. She tried to think, but the Major's im- 
patient “ Well! Well! ” at the other end drove 
all coherency from her thoughts. She must say 
something or she was sure the impatient old man 
would pull his telephone out by the roots. 

“ The watermelons have come! 97 she gasped. 
“ They just came — the watermelons! 77 and then 
she heard a great spluttering at the other end 
of the line and a faint: “ Is that you Polly? ” 
“ Yes sir! ” she said, and hung up the receiver. 
i ‘ Watermelons! This time of the year? 77 
questioned Josie curiously, and then realized that 
something had happened and was still happen¬ 
ing. Mrs. Leslie's cheeks were burning and her 
usually tidy hair had escaped from its net and 
was standing out in a far from respectable man¬ 
ner. She looked at Josie with sad, unfriendly 
eyes, and her mouth trembled as she said: 

“ Good evening! 77 

“ Good evening! 77 returned Josie. “I — I 
hope nothing is the matter, Mrs. Leslie.’' 

“ Matter! Nothing that I know of.” But Mrs. 
Leslie was too honest to dissemble and suddenly 


116 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

she lost all control of herself and sinking into a 
chair, burst into tears. 

“ Oh, my dear, my dear! ” cried Josie kneel¬ 
ing by her side. 66 Please, please, Mrs. Leslie, 
tell me if anything is the matter. Where is 
Mary? ” 

Mrs. Leslie pointed to the closed bedroom door. 

“ Not ill? ” 

She shook her head in mute denial. 

‘ ‘ Is it something connected with me — with 
me and Major Simpson that has upset you so? ” 

The lady did not speak, but a tightening of the 
hand which Josie held gave the girl to under¬ 
stand that it was something to do with her and 
the old detective that was making her weep. 

‘‘ And the watermelons — are they a private 
dish or am I to have a slice? Come now, my 
dear friend, for you are dear friends — both you 
and Mary — please tell me what it is all about. 
I feel you are angry with me about some¬ 
thing and distrust me in some way. I must 
have a talk with you and Mary.” 

Mary, whose door was not so tightly closed 
that she could not hear her name mentioned, came 
quickly into the living room. She, too, had been 
weeping, but her mother’s wild message concern- 


€i The Watermelons Have Come ” 117 

ing watermelons had brought on a fit of uncon¬ 
trollable laughter and now she was verging on 
hysterics. She tried to speak but could only gig¬ 
gle helplessly. 

Josie looked at mother and daughter with a 
quizzical expression as much as to say: “ Well 
what next! ” Then she drew Mary to a seat and 
standing in the middle of the room she spoke in 
a tone of patient gentleness and humility. 

“ I feel sure that something has arisen to make 
you doubt and distrust me. I am to blame for 
this because I have been concealing something 
from you that no doubt I should have told you 
long ago, but my profession is such that it is 
wiser and safer to keep my own counsel.” 

“ Oh — hh! ” shuddered Mrs. Leslie. “ Don’t 
tell us anything that you will regret. You can 
get away now if you go immediately and wild 
horses will not drag from me where you have 
gone. Indeed, you need not even tell me where 
you are going — but go quickly, poor child.” 

“ Are you sending me away! ” 

“ Not sending you, just allowing you to go be¬ 
fore it is too late. I may get into trouble for 
warning you but I don’t care. I cannot see you 
put behind bars.” Mrs. Leslie wept afresh. 


CHAPTER XI 


MRS. LESLIE WON TO THE CAUSE 

“ No doubt I deserve it,’’ said Josie solemnly. 

“ Even if you do I cannot bear to think of 
your being there and, although it is not quite 
honorable of me to do so, I am going to assist 
you to run away. Honor isn’t everything. A 
woman must be human first and a human being 
could not stand by and see a poor young thing 
like you branded as a criminal with a terrible 
jail sentence staring you in the face.” 

“ But, my dear lady, I have not confessed to 
being a real criminal — only not quite honest 
in that — ’ ’ 

“ But there is no line to draw where honesty 
is concerned. That is what you shall have to 
learn. One is either honest or dishonest — but 
you are so young — 9 9 

“ But, Mrs. Leslie, what do you and Mary think 
I have done? ” 

“ Not me! ” cried Mary. “ I am sure of you, 
118 


Mrs . Leslie Won to the Cause 119 

Josie. I simply know you have done nothing 
wrong.” 

“ Thank you, Mary! Then what does your 
mother think I have done? ” 

“ Think — why, you poor dear child, I know 
you are a thief — at least a shoplifter,” blurted 
out Mrs. Leslie. “ Major Simpson has been keep¬ 
ing his eye on you for weeks and weeks and he 
has at last rounded you up. Oh, why do we stand 
here and talk? You must he leaving before he 
gets here. I have telephoned him that you have 
come back.” 

“ Ah — then I am the watermelons,” laughed 
Josie. 

“ Yes, I meant lemons but I got so mixed be¬ 
cause I was excited. I knew it was something 
people take to picnics and watermelons are good 
to take although they are only the shipped Geor¬ 
gia melons we get for the Fourth of July. All 
the time it was lemonade I was thinking about. 
Anyhow watermelons was nearer to it than sand¬ 
wiches would have been. I know you think I 
am crazy but I’m not.” 

“ No, I know very well you are exceedingly 
sane,” said Josie gently. “ You are simply over¬ 
wrought and are thinking aloud. But now tell 


120 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

me what it is. You mean you have telephoned 
Major Simpson that I have come back and he 
will be along soon with the handcuffs? ” 

“ Oh-h-h! Not that! ” 

“ Perhaps not,” smiled Josie, “ but I think 
you had better let me make a clean breast of the 
whole affair and then we will decide what is to 
be done. In the first place, I am not a shop girl 
at all—” 

“ Didn’t I tell you? ” Mrs. Leslie said to Mary. 

“ Please don’t interrupt, Mother,” begged 
Mary. 

“ But I am a detective brought here from Dor- 
field by Burnett & Burnett to find out who has 
been shoplifting so successfully,” Josie con¬ 
tinued. 

“ Another detective! ” gasped Mrs. Leslie. 

“ Yes, although I must say that poor old Ma¬ 
jor Simpson hardly deserves to be called one. 
I have thought it best not to tell anyone what 
brought me to Wakely since both Mr. Charles and 
Mr. Theodore Burnett were opposed to letting 
Major Simpson know they had employed some¬ 
one over his head, as it were. It seems he has 
never yet detected a thing about anybody, and 
while they do not want to hurt his feelings they 


Mrs . Leslie Won to the Cause 121 

are determined to track the thieves if possible. I 
was recommended to the firm as a capable per¬ 
son and was employed by them. We felt I could 
accomplish more if I had a job in the store and 
that is how I came to tell you that I was a shop 
girl. I have never liked having to conceal my 
real profession from you and Mary but it had 
to be done. Major Simpson from the first seemed 
to have a peculiar interest in me and I thought 
it was because he had heard of my father. Per¬ 
haps you have never heard of him, but he was 
one of the greatest and cleverest of detectives.’’ 

“ Not Detective O’Gorman? ” cried Mrs. Les¬ 
lie. “ Not the man who found Margaret Carson, 
the millionaire baby! Not the one who tracked 
down the famous counterfeiters at Dempsey’s 
Mill by hiding in a meal sack for a whole day 
and night! Not the one who proved the old maid 
sister had put rat poison in the chicken salad at 
the wedding just to get even with the young man 
who was marrying her sister all because one time 
he had shot her cat for stealing chickens! Oh, 
Josie, to think of my having you right here under 
my — my ceiling for all these weeks and not 
knowing you were Detective 0’Gorman’s daugh¬ 
ter. Why, my husband and I never missed a thing 


122 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

he did in the way of detecting crime and we fol¬ 
lowed every inch of his work if we could just 
get hold of it. Of course I knew he lived in Wash¬ 
ington and if you had ever mentioned Washing¬ 
ton I might have guessed, but you see, you never 
did.” 

“ No, I never did,” said Josie, whose eyes were 
full of tears. How often she had mentioned her 
father, expecting him to be known and remem¬ 
bered, and how often she had been mortified at 
the ignorance of other persons. Now, here was 
this quiet country woman who had not even 
known how to punch on an electric light until 
she came to Wakely to live, yet she knew all 
about the great 0’Gorman and gave him all honor 
and praise. 

“ Go on, Josie! I did not mean to interrupt, 
but I just had to. I wish my dear husband could 
have met you. He was the one that got me so 
interested in detective tales. But go on! ” 

“ I believe I left off where I realized Major 
Simpson took an interest in me. This interest 
manifested itself in a peculiar way but I did not 
realize until this afternoon what the poor old 
man thought. I was so sure he was trying to 
find out O’Gorman methods of detecting that I 


Mrs. Leslie Won to the Cause 123 

went blindly on my way. The fact is, I teased 
the old fellow. He used to follow me around the 
street and I'd keep him guessing and then lose 
him. It is a very easy thing to do.” 

“ The Sylvester Simpsons are very good peo¬ 
ple,” murmured Mrs. Leslie, but Mary gave her 
a beseeching glance and she desisted from further 
interruptions. 

“ I have been walking the streets of Wakely 
a great deal because I have been determined to 
find out where the many employees of Burnett 
& Burnett's live, as well as something about their 
habits. You see, Mr. Charles Burnett had a sus¬ 
picion that the shoplifting was done from the 
inside. So while Major Simpson was under the 
impression that I was playing hide and seek with 
him I have really been on my job, which did not 
stop with closing time at the store. This after¬ 
noon I went out to Linden Heights to track down 
a young person and found she has given a ficti¬ 
tious address.” 

“ Oh, how exciting! ” exclaimed Mrs. Leslie. 
“ Why do you suppose — ? ” 

“ I don't know but I am going to find out. A 
whole lot of things have happened this afternoon 
that I have to find out about. In the first place, 


124 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

there was a theft of some priceless lace and a 
mesh hag— ” 

“ Oh — h! I forgot that! ” cried Mrs. Leslie. 
“ And what were you doing with those things? 
That is what has been worrying me sick.” 

“ I told you I did not know when you asked 
me before, and I told you the truth. Since then 
a gleam of light has been shed on how I got those 
things but it is such a faint gleam that I feel it 
best not to say anything more about it until I 
can see more clearly myself. I am going to ask 
you and Mary to trust me a little longer in so 
far as the lace and gold bag being found in my 
pocket is concerned.” 

‘ 4 Indeed I have always trusted you, Josie,” 
declared Mary. 

“ Well I must say I haven’t,” said Mrs. Leslie, 
stoutly, “ and I’d like to know now where those 
things are. Major Simpson will be coming along 
here before you know it and I am not willing for 
him to find them in my apartment. Where are 
they, Josie? ” 

“ They are where they belong — with Mr. 
Theodore Burnett. I took them to him the mo¬ 
ment I was aware of the fact that they were in 
my possession.” 


Mrs . Leslie Won to the Cause 125 

“ Mr. Theodore Burnett! Then was he the 
man who came home with you, the one who 
stopped three doors up? ” 

“ Yes, that was Mr. Theodore Burnett, the jun¬ 
ior member of the firm.” 

“ Heavens above! And I took him to be one 
of your confederates! ” 
i i So he is, and we happen to be working on 
an inside job. It was never my idea to be so 
secretive about my being a detective, at least 
so far as Major Simpson was concerned, but the 
Burnetts were sure he would not know how to 
cooperate with me and that if a clue was found 
he would bungle because he is so — so — I might 
say, old fashioned, though that is hardly the word 
because the business of detecting crime is as old 
as crime itself, and what new wrinkles have been 
discovered do not amount to a row of pins.” 

“ There now, it was that kind of talk that made 
me say you were not a notion counter girl,” said 
Mrs. Leslie. “ But you will tell Major Simpson 
now, surely.” 

“ No, not yet! I am afraid he would bungle 
things. Mr. Burnett and I have decided to keep 
him in the dark as to my business until the real 
thieves are caught.” 


126 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

“ Of course if you catch the shoplifters you 
want the glory of it and if you took him in on it 
he might get half,” said Mrs. Leslie. “ That’s 
human nature.” 

“ I don’t care a snap for the glory,” laughed 
Josie. “ It may he human nature, hut it is not 
mine and it was not my father’s. I know you 
think this will sound smug, hut honestly and truly 
the doing of the work is what interests me and 
anybody who wants to can walk off with the laurel 
wreath. Of course the laborer is worthy of his 
hire and I want the hard cash for delivering the 
goods. Not that I do the work for money either 

— that is, I don’t think about the money end of 
it while I am doing it. After it is all over it is 
rather pleasant to deposit a fat check in the 
bank.” 

“ Yes, I reckon it is, and it takes money to 
dress as you do,” said Mrs. Leslie. 

“ As I do? ” laughed Josie. “ Why, Mrs. Les¬ 
lie, I don’t believe there is a girl at Burnett & 
Burnett’s so simply dressed as I am.” 

“ Simply but elegantly! ” insisted Mrs. Leslie. 
“ I know dress goods when I see it — and shoes 

— there is nothing simple about your shoes.” 

“ Well, you are right, my dear lady. I do get 


Mrs . Leslie Won to the Cause 127 

good material for my frocks and I do wear good 
shoes. By the way, what did Major Simpson 
think of my shoes? ” 

“ Yonr shoes! ” and Mrs. Leslie blushed furi¬ 
ously. “ What do you mean, Josie? But Pm 
not going to lie about it. The Major did go in 
your room, but he made me feel it was in the 
cause of the upholding of the law that I should 
take him there. He did not meddle with anything 
however — except — ” 

“ Except my little book in the top drawer ,’ 9 
teased Josie. 

“ Yes— ” faltered the much embarassed host¬ 
ess, “ but how did you know that? ” 

“ I knew it in the first place because tbe book 
was not quite in the corner and the back turned 
in instead of out. But if I had not known it al¬ 
ready this would have been proof that someone 
had been in my drawer.’’ Josie produced the 
broken cuff link. 

“ Oh, my dear, I am so mortified that I let that 
bigoted old man make such a fool of me,” wailed 
Mrs. Leslie. “ He doesn’t know the first thing 
about the detectvie business, either. And I 
thought he was so clever. You see he is the first 
one I ever knew and he talked so knowingly. The 


128 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

idea of his leaving a cuff link in the drawer! And 
to think of his spending all this time tracking 
down a detective! Anybody could see with half 
an eye that you are as honest as the day is long. 
Josie, I am going to do anything you tell me to 
keep your identity concealed from old Major 
Simpson. I don’t care if he does belong to one 
of the most respectable families in our county, 
with his ancestral home right next to mine — and 
I don’t care if he did give me a pink parasol when 
I was a little girl. He is a poor detective and 
that is what I am interested in.” 

“ That’s the way to talk,” said Josie, and the 
girls laughed so merrily that Mrs. Leslie joined 
in. “ But what line of subterfuge are we to de¬ 
cide on? It is really very important to keep the 
poor man fooled for a few days yet. ” 

“ I’ll phone him again and tell him the water¬ 
melons are to be with me for sometime — I mean 
lemons — and he need have no fear of losing 
them.” 


CHAPTER Xn 


A BOARDING HOUSE HERO 

When Major Simpson received the frantic mes¬ 
sage from Mrs. Leslie informing him the water¬ 
melons had come, for a moment he stood aghast, 
not knowing at all what she meant. Slowly a 
wary smile overspread his rotund countenance 
and he exclaimed: 

“ By golly! There’s a woman for you! I’ll 
bet my gold-headed cane that somebody had 
caught on to the lemons and she realized I would 
have intelligence enough to grasp her meaning if 
she substituted watermelons. Of course — of 
course — picnics back in the grove behind the 
church — ice cold watermelons — ice cold lemon¬ 
ade. Even had she said fried chicken I should 
have been wise. Well, well! I must not neglect 
my digestion for this little shoplifter. Since she 
is safe in the hands of my good friend Polly Bain- 
bridge I can eat my dinner in peace. I wonder 
whether or not the stolen goods are still on the 
wretch. I fancy not, but once we get our clutches 
129 


130 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

on her she will divulge where she has hidden the 
loot.” 

Major Simpson was star boarder in the very- 
select house run by Mrs. Celeste White. The place 
was called “Maison Blanche”. Mrs. White seemed 
to think that her name Celeste gave her sufficient 
reason for assuming a French air. For that rea¬ 
son at Maison Blanche the bill of fare was always 
the menu. The baking dishes were casseroles, 
the napkins, serviettes. She made desperate ef¬ 
forts to have old Aunt Maria called the chef but 
that worthy person objected. 

“ No’m! I ain’t no shelf an’ I ain’t gonter be 
laid on none fer many a day yit. I’m a plain cook 
as fer as what you call me is consarned but I’m 
plain an’ fancy as fer as cookin’ is consarned. 
An’ what I cook air a gonter be called by the 
right name s ’long as it air in my kitchen. When 
it gits as fer as the precinct of the butler’s pantry 
it kin begin ter change its name an’ not befo’. I 
cooks maccaroni an’ cheese in a bakin’ dish but 
Miss White she make a pass over it an’ by the 
time the boa’ders gits settled in they seats my 
maccaroni an’ cheese air fergetti O’ Gratty Ann. 
I don’t know who this here Gratty Ann is but she 
sho mus’ a been a great one fer the eatin’s since 


A Boarding House Hero 


131 


she got so many things named after her. They 
even got pertatters named her name only Miss 
White, she calls ’em pums. This Gratty Ann an’ 
that there Cassy Boll got they patent hitched on 
ter mos’ eve’y thing these days. In ol’ times 
Sally Lnm an’ Brown Betty wa’ the onlies oomans 
what got they names in the cook hook an r now 
them two has ter take a back seat. The times air 
sho quare. Miss White she don’t even let cawfy 
be plain cawfy, that is when they dishes it np in 
them little doll baby cups, but she got ter name 
it after some low flung pusson called Demmy 
Task. I don’t know who Demmy Task is but she 
mus ’ be a stingy one. ’ ’ 

In the kitchen Aunt Maria ruled supreme, while 
in the parlor Major Simpson was monarch of all 
he surveyed — from the great Mrs. Celeste White 
herself down to the humble little Miss Willie 
Watts who rented Mrs. White’s attic room which 
she pleased to call a studio. Here Miss Willie 
made crayon portraits of the living and the dead 
for a living, and for pleasure she painted fancy 
pictures illustrating striking bits in mythology 
as well as her favorite songs. These pictures 
painted merely for the love of what the poor little 
woman called “ her art ” she never sold, because 


132 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

nobody ever bought them. But she was very gen¬ 
erous with them at Christmas and on birthdays 
and weddings. According to Miss Willie Watts 
everything must be decorated — no space go to 
waste. Art abhorred a bare space as much as 
Nature did a vacuum. 

Major Simpson was the recipient of several 
of Miss Willie’s efforts. “ The Lovers ’ Tryst / 9 
painted in a wooden mixing bowl, was touching 
indeed. Of course the poor man never did know 
what he was expected to do with a wooden bowl 
so he did nothing with it — just had it around. 
The small rolling pin tastefully decorated in 
new born cupids and suspended by silken cords 
and tassels attached to the handles, he guessed 
was meant for a cravat holder and so the vivid 
pink cupids peeped out from behind the old gen¬ 
tleman’s sober ties, constantly reminding him 
that the fool that the cynics tell us is bom every 
minute may also be a lover. 

On this evening Major Simpson was in his 
glory. The paying lady guests at Maison Blanche 
were gathered together in the parlor, listening in 
wrapt admiration while the star boarder recounted 
with becoming modesty the almost superhuman 
intelligence he had exercised in tracking down the 


A Boarding House Hero 133 

desperate criminal, little Josie O’Gorman. Of 
course he named no names for fear that by some 
means the terrible truth might be conveyed to 
his victim and she might escape. 

“ How thrilling! ” trilled a sweet young thing 
of some forty summers. “ Oh, Major, you are 
wonderfully clever! I wish I might see you work. 
How will you proceed now? Will you swear out 
a warrant and go and arrest the wicked crea¬ 
ture? ” 

“ No, no, not yet! It is most important to 
round up all of the girl’s confederates. In the 
mean time she is safe in the apartment of my 
friend, the widow from my county— ” 

“ A widow!” exclaimed Miss Willie Watts. 
“ So she is a widow? ” 

Miss Willie was a contented little woman and 
envied no woman anything except a dead hus¬ 
band. In her heart she had always longed to 
be a widow. Her imagination could not pic¬ 
ture for her a live husband but she could easily 
see herself in a widow’s ruche with a long 
crepe veil. Her imagination even carved a name 
on the tombstone marking the grave over which 
she mourned so piteously. It was not always 
the same name, for Miss Willie allowed herself 


134 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

to be fickle in regard to her imaginary dead 
husbands; but for many months now she had 
thought how blissful it would be to be called 
the Widow Simpson and how handsome the 
name Major Sylvester Simpson would look 
on an imposing marble shaft —‘ 6 beloved hus¬ 
band of Willie Watts ”— or should it be Wilhel- 
mina? Willie would look so boyish on a tomb¬ 
stone. 

Had Major Simpson realized the little artist 
was regarding him in “ that bony light ” no 
doubt he would have refused to let his cravats 
hang over the cupid covered rolling pin, but he 
merely counted her as one of the many lovely 
ladies who did him homage at the Maison Blanche, 
listening to his stories and applauding his clever¬ 
ness. 

“ Burnett & Burnett could hardly get along 
without you,” murmured Miss Willie, thinking 
of herself as cruel even to imagine the efficient 
righthand man of the department store as carved 
on a tombstone. 

“ Well, they won’t have to. I could retire to¬ 
morrow if I chose, but the work of a detective is 
so engrossing that once one has engaged in it, it 
is impossible to relinquish it.” 


A Boarding House Hero 135 

i 1 Have you always been one! ’’ asked the sweet 
young thing. 

“ Not officially — hut at heart, always.” 

“ I wonder you did not get in Government Se¬ 
cret Service. You would have been invaluable,” 
cooed one of the ladies. 

“ Ahem! Yes, but Burnett & Burnett needed 
me.” 

1 ‘ Of course — but how noble of you to stay in 
Wakely when the logical place for you to be was 
Washington,” declared Miss Willie. Then she 
asked vaguely: “ Do they bury Secret Service 
agents in Arlington? ” Nobody knew, so nobody 
answered, and Miss Willie blushed furiously, fear¬ 
ing that Major Simpson might guess the foolish 
thing that was in her mind when she asked the 
seemingly inconsequent question. Miss Willie had 
a way of breaking into a conversation following 
her own train of thought rather than the subject 
under discussion, and the guests at Maison 
Blanche were accustomed to her peculiarity and 
paid little attention to it. One solemn looking 
old lady, who said little but missed nothing, gave 
a deep gurgling chuckle. This old lady r s name 
was Mrs. Trescott. She had occupied a small 
back bedroom at Mrs. Celeste White r s for as many 


136 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

years as Major Simpson had occupied the large 
front one. 

Mrs. Tre scott’s chuckle, was fortunately 
drowned by the dinner gong. The boarders 
trooped in and fell on the purree de pois with the 
same gusto they would have employed had it 
been called plain pea soup. As soon as the first 
pangs of hunger were satisfied the conversation 
of the parlor was resumed. 

“ But, Major Simpson, you haven’t told us 
what this naughty girl looks like,” said one of 
the ladies. “ Of course she is beautiful and 
charming and very chic.” 

“ No, I don’t think she is any of these things,” 
said the Major. “ She is quite insignificant look¬ 
ing and her clothes are not of the latest style, 
though they are of very rich material. Her shoes 
are quite good and she is intellectual and well 
educated; speaks French with a good accent and 
reads Greek. Those highbrow crooks are the worst 
of all and the hardest to catch.” 

“ Boeuf a la mode to-day,” said Mrs. White 
by way of informing the assembled company that 
French with an accent was eaten at her table 
if not spoken. And one of the young men at 
the far end of the room said in a hoarse whisper: 


A Boarding House Hero 


137 


“ That means biled beef.” But Mrs. Celeste 
White never heard anything she did not want to 
hear. 

There were three persons at Maison Blanche 
that might have been called thorns in the flesh 
or flies in the amber. They were two frivolous 
young men and one young woman who utterly re¬ 
fused to play the game of its being a French 
pension and who openly made game of Major 
Simpson, calling him Sherlocko and asking him 
where Dr. Watsonia was. They had all their fun 
to themselves, however, as the other inmates 
loved to look upon their dinner as table d’hote 
and were sure that Major Simpson in flesh and 
blood was much cleverer than Conan Doyle's fic¬ 
titious detective. Mrs. Trescott was the only per¬ 
son who derived any amusement from the bad 
manners of the three young persons and she 
could not help giving her famous gurgling 
chuckle when any of their witty remarks 
touched her risibles. 

“ Did you say pois meant cat? ” one of the men 
asked. 

“ No, peas! Wby? ” from the girl. 

“ Oh, I thought it must mean cat or maybe 
kitten because it’s called purry and it sure does 


138 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

purr as it is taken in out of the cold. Listen! 99 

Everybody involuntarily stopped eating and 
listened except one deaf old lady who was drink¬ 
ing her pea soup with such gusto that the noise 
she made did sound ridiculously like the purring 
of a cat. 

Mrs. Trescott chuckled and the three naughty 
ones giggled. 

4 4 Oh, Mrs. White, you should hear the thrilling 
things Major Simpson has been telling us about 
a wicked shoplifter at Burnett & Burnett r s,” said 
one of the ladies as the soup dishes were re¬ 
moved and there was a lull in the business of 
eating. 

44 Shoplifter? ” asked one of the young men 
known as Jimmy Blaine. Jimmy was a cub re¬ 
porter on a morning paper and his life was lived 
with his ear cocked for news. 44 Do tell us about 
it Sher — Major Simpson. ** 

The Major, forgetting all about Jimmy’s pro¬ 
fession and glad of the chance to entertain a new 
audience, one that had heretofore been a scof¬ 
fing one, plunged again into the tale of how he 
had run down Josie 0’Gorman to her lair. He 
waxed eloquent over the account of Mrs. Leslie 
and her doughnuts and coffee, even mentioning 


A Boarding House Hero 139 

the pink parasol he had given that lady in her 
childhood. 

“ And now all we have to do is ronnd up the 
whole gang through this slip of a girl. She thinks 
she is clever hut she is no match for Sylvester 
Simpson/ ’ The Major sat back and beamed on 
his listeners, visibly swelling with pride. 

“ Hope he don’t bust on me,” Jimmy’s side 
partner, Kit Williams, whispered to the naughty 
young woman who was always ready to giggle. 

“ Tell us the name of this awful young person,” 
begged Jimmy. 

“ Oh no, young man! When you get to be as 
old as I am and as experienced you will realize 
that one mustn’t tell names and tales too.” 

At this juncture Aunt Maria poked her head 
in the dining room door and announced: 

“ Miss Celeste, Major Simpson’s phone air a 
ringin’ lak sompen wa’ on fiah. I’d go up an’ 
answer it myse’f if it would do any good — but 
when folks wants Major Siimpson they wants 
him an’ I reckon they couldn’t use no subster- 
chute. ’ ’ 

“ Ah, no doubt a development!” said the Major 
as he hurried to his room to quiet the persistent 
ringing of the telephone bell. 


140 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

He returned before the next course of the 
table d’hote was served. His genial pink face 
was beaming and like Kilmansegg, father of the 
immortal one of the golden leg: 

“ Seem’d washing his hands with invisible 
soap 

In imperceptible water .’ 7 

“ Just as I said — a development,” he de¬ 
clared. “ It was Mr. Theodore Burnett on the 
telephone. He informs me that the articles, pur¬ 
loined from his establishment this forenoon, have 
been returned.” 

“ Oh, how thrilling! Did he say by whom? ” 
asked the coy one. 

“ That was not necessary. I did not even ask 
him who returned them. I knew.” 


CHAPTER XHI 


JIMMY BLAINE GETS A SCOOP 

There were two morning newspapers in Wake- 
ly; one pink and one yellow. On week mornings 
half of the town read the pink journal and the 
other half the yellow one. On Sunday mornings 
the whole town read both. Jimmy Blaine worked 
for the yellow one. 

It was Jimmy Blaine’s regular business to go 
out on any consignment the powers that be might 
send him. It was his irregular business to make 
news if there was no news, thereby adding to his 
fame and bulging out his weekly pay envelope. 
While the Major was telling his tale Mrs. Tres- 
cott was the only one to notice how shiny Jimmy’s 
eyes were and how quick and almost feverish was 
his breathing. Before the last course was served 
Jimmy jumped from his seat. 

“ 6 S’cuse me, but I must be a-hustling. No, 
Miss Celeste, no souffle aux pruneaux for me this 
evening,” in answer to the hostess’s proffer of 

141 


142 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

prune whip. ‘‘ S ’long everybody! See you in the 
morning.” Jimmy was gone. 

Several chuckles bubbled up from the depths of 
Mrs. Trescott’s satin bodice. That evening, when 
Mrs. Trescott made her usual weekly pilgrimage 
to the kitchen to speak to Aunt Maria and slip 
her the customary Saturday night tip she gave 
her an extra five cents, commissioning her to pur¬ 
chase the Sunday morning yellow journal for her. 

“ Moughty ’stravagant Mis’ Trescott when 
they’s alius pufectly good Sunday papers a goin’ 
ter waste ’roun’ here. All you is got ter do is 
jes’ wait a while. Major Simpson has one, an 
Miss Celeste has one an’ Mr. Jimmy Blaine is 
mo ’n apt ter have two or three. I alius say ’taint 
no trouble ter start Monday mornin’ fiah at this 
here Mason Bluemange. If you want ter save 
yo’ nickel I’ll see that you gits the very fust 
paper that anybody gits through with.” 

“ That’s very kind, Maria, but I want one all 
to myself tomorrow morning, and want it before 
anybody has pawed over it and mixed it up. I 
have an idea there will be something of especial 
interest to me.” 

Mrs. Trescott was right. Jimmy Blaine had 
not foregone the pleasures of prune whip for 


143 


Jimmy Blaine Gets a Scoop 

nothing. He had rushed pell mell to the office 
and frantically pounded out on an extra type 
writer the whole story of Major Simpson and the 
shoplifter. He had named no names, thereby 
carefully sidestepping any chance for a libel suit, 
hut he had so accurately described Burnett & Bur¬ 
nett ’s that the whole of Wakely could but guess 
the department store mentioned in the story. The 
stage setting was realistic, the local color perfect, 
but the young journalist had let his fancy run 
riot where description of characters were con¬ 
cerned. 

Mrs. Trescott received her private Sunday 
morning newspaper, literally damp from the press. 
Aunt Maria was what she called “ an early stir¬ 
rer ”, and the first newsboy that shouted his 
wares in the neighborhood of Maison Blanche was 
nabbed and made to deliver by the intrepid old 
cook, who patiently climbed the two flights of 
steps to Mrs. Trescott’s third-floor-back hall bed¬ 
room and poked the paper in her door. 

“ Here you am, Mis Trescott, an* a cup er caw- 
fy ter tide you over come brekfus time. You mus’ 
be ‘ spectin ’ of some funeral notice ter make you 
so besirous of a private paper.” 

Aunt Maria well knew that Mrs. Trescott had 


144 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

to watch her pennies very closely and the extra¬ 
vagance of five cents spent for first peep at a 
newspaper could mean little short of a death and 
a funeral. 

“ Perhaps! ” chuckled the lady, “ but Pll come 
read the news to you after while, Maria. I am 
more than obliged to you for your kindness. No 
doubt the coffee will help me bear up,” and then 
the old lady gave another deep soul-satisfying 
gurgle as she unfolded the damp newspaper and 
ran her eyes eagerly over the news columns. 

There it was, just as she knew it would be, but 
better, so much better! 

“ Oh, the rascal, the young rascal! He has 
made a romance of that old fool Major’s finding 
the widow from his own part of the country and 
her helping him to track the criminal. He even 
has in the doughnuts and coffee and the pink 
parasol.” 

It might be said that Mrs. Trescott stopped 
chuckling and chortled. What difference diff it 
make if one was poor and old and condemned to 
spend ones days in a third-floor-back hall bed¬ 
room if one had a sense of humor equal to Mrs. 
Trescott’s. Her humor was the type that needed 
no second person with whom to enjoy the ridic- 


145 


Jimmy Blaine Gets a Scoop 

lousnesses of life. Her solemn countenance gave 
no inkling to the outside world of the riot of fun 
going on within. The gurgling laughter that 
sought an outlet was to the uninitiated no more 
mirthful than the bubble of air arising from an 
old submerged mud turtle, appearing on the sur¬ 
face of the water and breaking. 

“ I’d like to hear what the Burnetts have to 
say this morning , 99 she gasped. “ Oh, that will 
be unprintable I am sure, but our Jimmy Blaine 
could make copy of it nevertheless. And the lit¬ 
tle shoplifter — no doubt she is happy at being 
put in the paper as beautiful beyond compare, 
with a dark mysterious past that tugs against her 
better nature — but the better nature prevails 
and she returns the stolen goods. I wonder Jim¬ 
my did not announce an engagement between her 
and Mr. Theodore Burnett. I think I’ll suggest 
it to him. A suggestion is all that is necessary 
to our Jimmy. Oh, Jimmy, Jimmy! ” 

In the mean time Jimmy was sleeping the sleep 
of a cub reporter happy over a scoop and the fact 
that he had cleared a neat little sum on the extra 
columns of space he had filled so successfully. Kit 
Williams, his friend and room mate, had seized 
on the early edition Jimmie had brought home 


146 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

with him and his mirth was loud and lusty over 
what Jimmy had done to the Major. 

“ Gee. Ain’t he the kid? ” he cried. “ I could 
kiss him where he sleeps if he wasn’t so un¬ 
shaved. ’ 9 

“ You try it,” muttered Jimmy sleepily, having 
come to life just enough to hear Kit’s ravings. 
“ You try it and you’ll never shave again.” He 
then turned over and pulled the covers over his 
tousled head, hoping to be lost to the world until 
dinner time, breakfast offering no inducements 
to one who had been up all night making news 
for the greedy public. 

Miss Willie Watts was greatly excited over 
the article. It seemed to her very astonishing 
that the “ paper ” should know so much about 
something that had only just happened. At first 
she did not connect Jimmy Blaine with the story 
but when she did all she could say was: 

“ But how did he know so much about the ap¬ 
pearance of the poor wicked shoplifter when Ma¬ 
jor Simpson did not tell him any more than he 
did me? And how did he know the widow was 
handsome and dashing, the one who made the 
doughnuts and coffee? Major Simpson never 
said so in so many words. Ah me! All widows 


147 


Jimmy Blaine Gets a Scoop 

are handsome and dashing, it seems. I wonder 
if this won’t make the poor Major sick. I hope 
he won’t die— ” and then she began dreaming 
of his tombstone and how it would look: 

“ Major Sylvester Simpson, beloved husband 
of Wilhelmina— ” etc. 

Mrs. Celeste White read the story and thought 
Jimmy was pretty clever but wished he had men¬ 
tioned that the doughty hero lived at Maison 
Blanche. 

“ A very good chance for some free advertis¬ 
ing and I might just as well have had it,” she 
grumbled. “ Young people seem never to think 
of such things.” 

The Major read the whole paper before he 
came to the part of the magazine section which 
carried his story. It was his custom to have 
breakfast in his room on Sunday morning so that 
he might take his ease before making the elabor¬ 
ate toilet he felt to be necessary for one whose 
duty and pleasure it was to pass the plate in 
church. 

“ What’s this? WTiat’s this? ” he cried, glar¬ 
ing excitedly at Jimmy’s lurid headlines. “ Story 
of Seductive Shoplifter — das'hing widow — 
doughnuts and coffee — pink parasol — reunited 


148 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

after years of sad separation — Ahem — hand¬ 
some detective — Tracked to her lair shop girl 
returns purloined articles! All will be forgiven 
and beautiful maiden will continue her labor at 
large department store so popular in the city of 
Wakely. Of course her identity will remain a 
secret — no person but the wily detective and 
the generous employer being aware of her iden¬ 
tity.’ ’ The poor man groaned aloud and let his 
second cup of coffee get chilled. 

‘ ‘ Who, who can have done this ? Ah — that 
wretched Jimmy Blaine! I forgot he was con¬ 
nected with the press. This vile sheet has al¬ 
ways disgusted me. I never intend to read it 
again,” and then the old gentleman settled him¬ 
self to con every word of Jimmy’s scoop. He 
found it rather pleasant to be written up as 
handsome and gallant, and the romance between 
himself and the Mrs. Leslie hinted at in the article 
was on the whole quite gratifying. 

“ But the Burnett’s! What will they think? ” 
While no names were mentioned there could be 
little doubt of the identity of the persons in the 
story. 

“ Let them think what they choose,” was Major 
Simpson’s final decision. “ It is not for me, Syl- 


149 


Jimmy Blaine Gets a Scoop 

vester Simpson, to account to the young Bur¬ 
nett’s for my method of tracking criminals.” And 
then he proceeded to justify himself for having 
talked too freely before a cub reporter and even 
persuaded himself that the publicity given the 
shoplifting episode was a stroke of finesse that 
only a master mind, such as his, would have been 
capable of originating. 

“ I can manage Charles,” he said to himself, 
“ but I am not so sure of Theodore. He is an 
opinionated youngster.” 

In the mean time the * ‘ opinionated youngster ’ * 
was doubled up with laughter over the magazine 
section of the Sunday paper. 

i 6 Just when we thought we could put our hands 
on the criminals! Oh, Major Simpson, Major 
Simpson, what a legacy our father and grand¬ 
father left us in your portly person! And what 
will the little O’Gorman say to this? ” 

What the little 0 ’Gorman thought we may never 
know, but what she said was: 

“ Oh, me, oh, my! As my father used to say; 
‘The best laid schemes of mice and men gang aft 
agleeJ ” 

She then betook herself to the quiet and peace 
of her own little bedroom, there to work out a 


150 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

plan and incidentally to read a few pages in her 
book of books, hoping her clever father might 
have left some words of wisdom hearing more di¬ 
rectly on misplaced publicity than on the schemes 
of mice and men. 

Mrs. Leslie’s indignation knew no bounds when 
she read what the newspaper said about her. 

“ Dashing widow indeed! I never dashed in 
my life.” 

“ And certainly you never widded,” said Mary, 
trying not to laugh. “ But, dearest, you should 
he proud that your coffee and doughnuts got into 
print, although anonymously. After all, nobody 
will know whose they were unless you tell them.” 

“ You may he sure I’ll not do that. But one 
thing I am going to tell if I have to do it with my 
dying breath: I shall tell Sylvester Simpson that 
he is a pompous old idiot.” 


CHAPTER XIV 


THE QUARREL NEXT DOOR 

Josie was right; the song of the frogs meant 
spring was on the way — in the air — in the 
ground — in one’s bones. The Leslie’s apart¬ 
ment was hot, hot to suffocation. The janitor, 
following in the footsteps of most janitors, had 
made up an extra hot fire in the furnace because 
it was Sunday and because it was a warm Sunday. 
When Josie sought the quiet of her own room to 
escape the reiterated wailings of Mrs. Leslie and 
to read her precious little book, she found the at¬ 
mosphere oppressively heavy. To escape it she 
raised her window and leaned far out, drinking 
deep of the soft spring air. The little back yard 
was showing signs of coming to life. A brave lit¬ 
tle daffodil had poked a green nose up through the 
black earth and a foolish peach tree actually had 
a few precocious buds on one of its slender 
branches. 

“ They’ll be nipped and deserve to be,” thought 
Josie. “ But I reckon they can’t help it any more 

151 


152 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

than I can resist almost falling out of the window 
in search of air.” 

Someone else was evidently of the same mind, 
as a window next to the one from which Josie 
was leaning was raised with some vehemence and 
an impatient voice, strangely familiar to Josie, 
exclaimed: 

“ Gee, hut it’s hot in this hole! I hate to think 
of summer’s coming.” 

“ And I — ah, how I long for warmth— ” 
drawled a woman’s voice with a foreign accent. 

Josie decided it was the Kambourians—mother 
and son. Then a goodnatured growl from the in¬ 
terior of the room gave evidence that Papa Kam- 
bourian was not far off. 

“ Nom de Dieu — close the window, Boy! Do 
not you understand that Mamma and I have air 
enough during the w T eek days to last us over the 
blessed Sabbath. That is the worst of these 
United States and all who happen to be born here 
as were you, mon bon enfant — air always air! ” 

* 4 And I! How about me being shut up in a 
shop all week with a bunch of silly girls, working 
like a dog — and when I do pull off a deal to have 
Mamma fall down on her part? I can’t get over 
it — losing the things.” 


The Quarrel Next Door 153 

“ Now, now, boy! ” and the goodnatured 
growl bordered on anger. “ Let Mamma be! It 
was unavoidable. Has she not already wept 
oceans of tears? What are a few yards of 
wretched lace and a bit bauble of a gold bag to 
poor Mamma’s feelings? Let be, mon fils, and try 
again. A few more hauls and we will have enough 
to set up a small shop in the great metropolis. ’ ’ 
“ Not for me! I’m through I tell you — 
through for good and all. I’m sick of the whole 
wretched business. You and Mamma can keep 
on being foreigners all you want but I’m an 
American boy — almost a man — and I want to 
pull loose. I could make as much money walk¬ 
ing straight as I do crooked.” His voice rose 
angrily and Josie felt that the boy was on the 
verge of tears in spite of his assertion that he 
was almost a man. 

“ Shut the window! ” roared the father. “ Such 
foolish babble is enough to start the whole 
neighborhood talking! ” 

“ Now, now! ” soothed the woman’s voice. 
“ Don’t you and Papa quarrel. I know my little 
Roy will not what you call pull out yet and leave 
poor Mamma before she gets enough pretty 
things to start a little boutique . Shut the window 


154 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

like a gentle boy because the air may make Papa 
sick. ’ 1 

“ How can air make one sick who sits all day 
on a sidewalk? ” 

“ And now you reproach poor Papa and Mam¬ 
ma because they sit all day and sell the pencils 
and shoe strings and paperrs,” whined the wo¬ 
man, though it was easy to grasp that the whine 
in her voice was pure burlesque. “ Was I made 
for such a life! No, I tell you, nevaire! ” 

At this juncture the window was closed with a 
vigorous slam and the eavesdropper heard no 
more. She had heard quite enough however to 
set her steady little heart a thumping. 

“ I' am almost as big an idiot as my worthy 
brother in arms, Major Simpson,” Josie took 
herself to task. “ Anybody with a grain of sense 
would have known all along what I had to open 
a window to find out. Thank goodness for the 
over zealous janitor. I’ll give him a generous tip 
tomorrow. But mercy on us, how carefully I 
must go now. I can hardly trust myself not to 
burst in on the Leslies and tell them the whole 
thing. One thing I know, I must call in help from 
the police department, as much as I hate to get 
any clumsy folks mixed up in this. I know what 


The Quarrel Next Door 155 

Ill do — ” She made a feverish-dive for her hat 
and jacket, and grabbing up her gloves rushed 
through the living room, saying in passing: 

“ Expect me back when you see me but know 
that I am not running off for more than an hour 
or so.” 

“ There now! ” gasped Mrs. Leslie. “ What a 
strange girl she is after all. WTiat do you think 
is the matter, Mary? ” 

“ I think she has a clue and is following it up. 
All I am wondering is where she got it in such a 
short time and if she will tell us all about it later 
on. It is certainly interesting to have a person 
like Josie to rent a room from us, isn't it 
Mother?” 

“ I should say so; but I wish she wouldn't be 
so sudden,” sighed Mrs. Leslie. 44 I think she 
ought to tell me what her clue is because I am 
sure I could help her.” 

Mary smiled. She was not so sure. Up to the 
present her mother had been more of a hinder- 
ance than a help to their little lodger. As for sud¬ 
denness; nobody could have been more sudden 
than that lady in accepting without question the 
opinion of old Major Simpson merely because he 
had come from her county and had presented 


156 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

her with a pink parasol when she was quite a 
tiny girl. 

To a clever girl like Josie, it was an easy mat¬ 
ter to find out the name of the reporter on the 
yellow journal who had spread himself so lav¬ 
ishly on the shoplifting story. First to the news¬ 
paper office where, it being a morning paper, the 
business of the day had not begun. The office was 
open, however, and a janitor was lazily sweeping 
the floor and grumbling because the one who took 
care of a daily newspaper office had no Sunday to 
speak of. The man at a desk agreed with him as 
did also the telephone girl whose business it was 
to handle the private switchboard. 

“ May I speak with the city editor? 99 Josie 
asked meekly. 

“ Not in yet! 99 growled the man at the desk. 
“Anything I can do? 99 

“ Oh, please, if you will be so kind — I want 
the name and address of the reporter who had 
the shoplifting story in the paper this morning.” 

“ Whatcher want with it? It*s against the 
policy of the paper, to divulge names and ad¬ 
dresses. The management holds itself respon¬ 
sible for all stories published in its columns and 
the management has not come down yet . 99 


The Quarrel Next Door 157 

“ I merely wanted to give the man a chance on 
another scoop, but since you are evidently not 
desirous of scoops I’ll look up the other paper.** 
‘ ‘ How’s that f Scoop ? Give it to me! I *11 get 
hold of Jimmy Blaine in a minute. The truth 
of the matter is, young lady, I am the manage¬ 
ment but it’s policy to keep it dark when any¬ 
body is on the war path. I was afraid you were 
one of the wronged ladies in Jimmy’s story — but 
I might have known you weren’t.” 

“ Well, if you can get hold of this Jimmy I’d 
be very much obliged.” 

“ What is the nature of your story? Anything 
like the one this morning? ” 

“ No, this one is a true story. There is mighty 
little that is true in the scoop of the morning ex¬ 
cept perhaps the pink parasol and the doughnuts. 
Would it be against the policy of the paper for 
you to divulge just what part of the management 
you are? ” 

“Ahem! I am part owner and managing editor.’’ 
“ Then you’ll do, but please get this Jimmy 
here as fast as you can so I can tell the tale to 
both of you at once and save time and breath. ’ ’ 
Jimmy Blaine was forced to uncover his head 
and listen to his room mate. 


158 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

“ Boss wants you and wants you in a hurry. 
He says never mind dolling up, but just come 
along. He’s on the phone now and Miss Celeste 
says it must he important because he sounds so 
brisk.” Thus spake Kit Williams, going through 
the operation on sodden Jimmy known as “cold 
pigging”, that is, applying a wet sponge to a 
sleeper’s face. 

“ Don’t hide! Get up and go to the phone,” 
insisted Kit as Jimmy snuggled down in the bed 
clothes and again covered his tousled head. 

“ Aw gee! Have a heart, cantcher? Don’t go 
joking me, Kit, that’s a good boy.” 

“ Well then, lose your job if you want to. 
What’s it to me? You blooming idiot, didn’t you 
hear me say that the boss himself is hollerin’ for 
you. I reckon he’s got a mouthfull to say about 
that lurid tale you pulled off in this morning’s 
paper.” 

“ He saw it before it went in,” growled Jim¬ 
my. “ If there is any trouble it is up to him. 
Ain’t he the management? ” 

“ I thought that would wake you up. Now get 
up and put on your dressing gown — here it is 
— here are your slippers. Never mind your bou¬ 
doir cap, just slip along to the phone. ” 


The Quarrel Next Door 159 

Jimmy meekly obeyed. There was no use in 
grumbling when one's boss was on the line. 

“ Hello! ” he said in a voice as sweet as honey. 

u Yes, sir! Yes, sir! Be right down. Don't 
let her get away.” 

“ Breakfast? No sir! What's breakfast! Never 
eat on Sunday, that is, breakfast. Be down in 
a jiffy.” 

It was a wide awake Jimmy who, after turning 
on a cold shower, tore back to his room and began 
to throw on his clothes like a lightning change 
vaudeville artist. 

“ So long, Kit, old fellow. Something big is 
up but I don't know what. It's got something to 
do with Sherlocko Simpson, I think, but I'll see 
you later,” and the youngster was out on the 
street and running for a trolley in less time than 
it would have taken the fire department to an¬ 
swer an alarm. 


CHAPTER XV 


JOSIE SETS A TRAP 

Jimmy Blaine did not now just what he was 
expecting but he knew it was not a quiet, business¬ 
like young person like Josie who showed no shy¬ 
ness and at the same time no brazenness, but 
with the utmost composure stated the case and 
put it up to the management whether or not it 
was worth while to pursue the scoop unearthed 
by the cub reporter. As soon as Jimmy breezed 
in, all on fire for more sensational news, Mr. Cox 
introduced him to the visitor. Josie gave him a 
boyish handshake and then plunged into the mat¬ 
ter in hand. 

“ In the first place I am a detective, Josie 
O’Gorman from Washington and late of Dorfield. 
My father— ” 

“ Not the O’Gorman! ” from Mr. Cox. 

“ Yes, ” beamed Josie. “Iam here with Bur¬ 
nett & Burnett to catch the shoplifters that have 
been busy lately.” 


160 


161 


Josie Sets a Trap 

Jimmy surreptitiously produced a pencil and 
endeavored to get hold of a linen cuff, but Josie 
stopped him: 

“ Please, Mr. Blaine, none of this is for pub¬ 
lication as yet. You can get the whole story in 
good time and it will be a good one I am sure. I 
have come to the newspaper for help because in 
my experience the live wires are on newspapers 
and not on the police force. I cannot say for 
sure that the police of Wakely would bungle, but 
I can say that the police of Dorfield would and 
have. My father believed in the press as a great 
detective power and I have had more help from 
a young newspaper man in Dorfield than all the 
police; in spite of the fact that Chief Lonsdale 
of Dorfield is my very dear friend. But this 
young Dulaney— ” 

“ Not Bob Dulaney of the — th Begiment? 99 
cried Jimmy. 

“ Yes — Bob Dulaney! 99 

“ Gee! This is great! Shake again! 99 cried 
Jimmy. “ I’ve spent many a night lying in the 
mud near Bob, over there .’ 9 

“ Then you now Danny Dexter, too? 99 

“ Know him? Know him like a book! Why 
Danny was my Father Confessor. Many a time 


162 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

he’s told me what’s what. You see, I was the kid 
of the regiment and some of the fellows seemed 
to think it was up to them to make me walk chalk. 
I walked it all right.” 

“ We’ve no doubt you did,” twinkled Mr. Cox. 

“ Well, Danny Dexter married my best friend; 
but that’s another story and we’d better get back 
to business. Please let me say that I’m glad I 
came to the newspaper for cooperation as I’m 
pretty sure a friend of Bob Dulaney and Danny 
Dexter is going to be on the job and deliver the 
goods,” said Josie. 

Jimmy Blaine grinned happily, proud that his 
boss should hear him praised through his 
friends. 

Josie plunged into a recital of the Kambourians 
and how she had been mystified by them from the 
moment she saw them on the street that first Sun¬ 
day in Wakely. She told of the baffling likeness 
the youth had to someone she had seen before; of 
her finding board in the same apartment house 
with them, by chance as it were; of Miss Mary 
Leslie’s encounter with a beggar in the hallway 
and of her identification of this beggar as the 
man whose habit it was to sit all day at the front 
entrance of Burnett & Burnett’s. She then 


Josie Sets a Trap 163 

touched on Major Simpson’s laughable mistake 
concerning her own character. 

“ He thinks I am the shoplifter and has had me 
under surveillance ever since I have been em¬ 
ployed by his firm. I only grasped this fact yes¬ 
terday. I knew he was following me around but I 
was conceited enough to fancy it was my methods 
that interested him. I thought maybe he knew 
I was my father’s daughter and was trying to 
learn something.” 

Jimmy gasped: 

i ‘ Then you are the one he thinks he has trap¬ 
ped.” 

“ The same! Thank you for making me such 
an irrestible vamp.” 

“ What! What! Is your story not true!” Mr. 
Cox looked both alarmed and irritated. 

11 It’s practically what old Simpson told right 
out at the boarding house table. Of course I kind 
of — er — er — embellished it a little, but the 
story is almost as he gave it — doughnuts and cof¬ 
fee and all.” 

“ It is what Major Simpson thinks is true, but 
suppose I go on with my tale. I am sure Mr. 
Blaine wrote the matter up quite correctly accord¬ 
ing to newspaper etiquette — certainly there is no 


164 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

handle for legal trouble/ , soothed Josie. “ If 
I don’t mind being called a beautiful criminal I 
am sure Mrs. Leslie should not mind being pub¬ 
lished as a fascinating widow. Anyhow, no 
names were used, so what’s the difference! ” 

“ Perhaps you are right,” said Mr. Cox, 
smoothing out his troubled brow. “ Pray pro¬ 
ceed. Your story is most interesting.” 

“ Please tell us — did you return the goods to 
Mr. Burnett! ” asked Jimmy. 

Then Josie told of the twisted newspaper and 
her discovery of the lace and gold mesh bag and 
her taking the articles to Mr. Burnett. She also 
told of having tried to locate the haughty Miss 
Fauntleroy. 

“And now — to sum up: Miss Fauntleroy is 
a fake and wishes to conceal her address. The 
newspaper I bought from the old woman who sits 
at the rear entrance of Burnett & Burnett’s had 
passed through the hands of Miss Fauntleroy and 
she put the stolen goods in the paper and twisted 
it up and returned it to the old woman.” 

“ Golly! ” was all Jimmy could say. “ And 
this Miss Fauntleroy! ” 

“ It came to me all of a heap this very day that 
it was she to whom the young Kambourian had 


165 


Josie Sets a Trap 

the haunting likeness. I had seen her in the store 
and been rather interested in her because she 
seemed different from the other employees. She 
is evidently the daughter of the house and the 
old beggar is none other than the mother, Mad¬ 
ame Kambourian. The father begs at the front 
door, the mother at the back, and the daughter 
takes what suits her fancy and deposits it now 
with Mamma and now with Papa.” 

“ But you said this Madame Kambourian was 
handsome,” objected Mr. Cox. “ Handsome and 
not at all old — hardly old enough to be the 
mother of the youth.” 

“ Yes, but age is easier to assume than youth. 
She had on a clever make-up. I wonder how much 
she takes in each day, selling papers and never 
having the change.” Then Josie proceeded to 
tell all that she had overheard through the open 
window, and how this was made possible because 
of the janitor’s having been too lavish with the 
owner’s coal. 

“ Now we must round up the whole bunch. The 
boy is mixed up in it somehow, though he is still 
a mystery to me. I could not gather just ex¬ 
actly what he does to increase the family income 
but I am sure it is something of which he is not 


166 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

proud. I feel rather sorry for the boy because 
I am sure he ’d like to cut the whole bunch and be 
honest. The entire family is interesting to me. 
The man and woman seem so fond of each other 
and so considerate. I’ll give you my word they 
are much more loving than many married couples 
one sees.” 

“ You have not seen this Miss Fauntleroy there, 
have you? ” asked Mr. Cox. “ You are not really 
sure that she belongs there.” 

“ Not so sure that I could swear to it in a court 
of justice, but so sure that I could safely say I’d 
eat my hat if she is not,” laughed Josie. “ I 
think she must be twin sister to this boy. I don’t 
want to brag, but when I get a hunch like this it is 
apt to be right.” 

“ Well then, let’s proceed on the assumption 
that Miss Fauntleroy is in reality Miss Kam- 
bourian. What next? ” 

“ Next we must plan a campaign of watchful 
waiting. I will take charge of the interior of Bur¬ 
nett & Burnett’s, keeping a never closing eye on 
Miss Fauntleroy. I must have help to look after 
the beggar at the front and the one at the back 
as well as the Kambourian apartment, both front 
and back.” 


167 


Josie Sets a Trap 

After much thought and discussion Mr. Cox 
and Josie, with the alert intelligence of Jimmy 
Blaine to advise with them, decided the thing 
was too big not to call in the assistance of the 
police. The blue coats might bungle, but at least 
they could be set to watch the alley behind the 
apartment house and report anything out of the 
way. 

“ We’ve got a new chief here who is not so 
hide bound as the old one was; in fact, he is very 
down-to-date in his methods. I am sure he will 
cooperate with us. Call him up, Jimmy, and 
see if he is at his office. Sunday is no more of a 
holiday to the police than to newspaper men.” 

The chief proved to be having a holiday in spite 
of its being Sunday, but an alert young sergeant 
answered the call and even expressed himself as 
willing to come to the newspaper office instead of 
having the newspaper office come to him. The 
tale was quickly told. Sergeant Tanner agreed 
with Josie on the plan of procedure. 

“ Who am I, anyhow, to take issue with the 
daughter of the great O’Gorman? I reckon you 
are a chip off the old block, Miss, because if you 
had not been you never would have caught that 
Markle bunch. We know all about that here in 


168 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

Wakely. We know how you tracked down that 
chap in Atlanta, too, the one who had put his 
step-sister-in-law in a hug house and was plan¬ 
ning to marry her and cop the fortune. We know 
about the kidnapping case in Louisville, also. 
You see we aren’t named Wakely for nothing. 
Anyhow we are awake enough to keep up with 
the detective news.” 

Josie could not help being flattered by Ser¬ 
geant Tanner’s recognition of merit but she 
merely blushed a little and said: 

“ It was all luck, absolutely nothing but luck 
that made me successful in those cases.” 

“ I hope your luck will keep up,” said Mr. 
Cox. , 

“ Of course plain clothes men are what we will 
need,” said the sergeant, “ and I think I’ll be 
one of them. Shall I take over the apartment 
house and the entrances to Burnett & Bur¬ 
nett’s? ” 

“ All right! ” agreed Jimmy ruefully, “ but 
what’ll I be doing? I want to get in on this some¬ 
where.” 

u You might be an inside man and help me 
in the shop,” said Josie. “ Somebody must watch 
Major Simpson or he’ll bungle things.” 


Josie Sets a Trap 169 

Sergeant Tanner was much amused over the 
poor Major and his bungling. 

“ He’s a terrible dub at detecting. If he had 
called us in on this shoplifting trouble we might 
have helped him but old Simp thinks he knows 
it all and he is as ignorant of the game as a new 
born babe. Now, Miss O’Gorman, I’ll detail some 
sharp men to keep an eye on the apartment house 
to-night and others to look after it every minute 
of the day to-morrow.” 

“ And I’ll come in the shop and buy things 
and even make up to Miss Fauntleroy,” suggested 
Jimmy. 

“ Don’t get too much in evidence,” cautioned 
Josie. “ And Sergeant Tanner, be sure to keep 
a watch over the blind beggar man in front. As 
for the woman with papers, I have an idea she 
will not come to work for a day or so, not in the 
guise of an old woman, at least.” 

Josie felt it wise to see Mr. Burnett for a 
moment before returning home to inform him 
how matters were progressing and to ask his ap¬ 
proval of the move she had made in taking both 
newspaper men and police force into her confi¬ 
dence. 

He approved highly. “ Between the two you 


170 Josie and tine Meddlesome Major 

will be sure to get help. As for poor old Simp¬ 
son, I wish he would have a slight indisposition 
that would keep him away from the store to¬ 
morrow. Hasn’t he messed things up, though? ” 
i 6 Perhaps not! Anyhow I am hoping the Kam- 
bourians are so foreign they don’t read the Amer¬ 
ican newspapers. The chances are they know 
nothing of the publicity given the matter.” 


CHAPTER XVI 


MRS. LESLIE TURNS DETECTIVE 

“ How can anybody call Monday a bine day? ” 
asked Josie the next morning as Mrs. Leslie 
served a dainty breakfast to the two girls. “ It 
seems to me to be the most wonderful morning 
in the whole week. Even wash day holds no ter¬ 
rors for me. It always has been the very best 
day of all for me, a kind of weekly Easter, a 
day in which the whole world can start afresh.” 

“Pm glad you like it,” said Mrs. Leslie, 
grimly. “ IVe been brought up to feel differ¬ 
ently.” Mrs. Leslie was having a mental and 
moral reaction from the excitement of the Sat¬ 
urday and Sunday just passed. “ Monday was 
always a serious day with us in the country.” 

“ But, Mother,” laughed Mary, “ you surely 
do not consider it your religious duty to be blue 
on Monday.” 

“ Not exactly religious — but— ” 

“ Now, Mrs. Leslie, please don't be too down- 
171 


172 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

hearted or too busy because I have a task for you 
that I am sure you can’t resist.” 

“ Don’t be too sure child, because I am plan¬ 
ning to clean beds to-day. The sun is shining 
and it is a good thing to be beforehand with beds. 
I can sun the things in the back yard— ” 

“ The very thing! ” cried Josie delightedly. 
“ The more you are out in the back yard the bet¬ 
ter because I do so want you to keep an eye on 
those Kambourians from the rear. They will 
not be the least suspicious of a busy housewife 
engaged in the legitimate search connected with 
beds and early spring.” 

Mrs. Leslie’s Monday gloom lifted a little. Be¬ 
ing a private detective was rather more interest¬ 
ing than the usual humdrum of housekeeping. 
She promised Josie to keep a sharp lookout on 
the neighbors. 

“ You never can tell about foreigners. They 
are more than apt to be off color,” she declared. 
“ If they do anything peculiar while you are 
away, how must I proceed, Josie? ” 

“ Proceed to call up Burnett & Burnett, phone 
number, Preston 11, and ask for Mr. Theodore 
Burnett — take no substitute. Tell him who you 
are and what is happening. He will do the rest. 


Mrs . Leslie Turns Detective 173 

The Kambourians may be absent all day but the 
chances are the woman will not leave the house. 
The place is even now being watched by detec¬ 
tives. But detectives do not always see every¬ 
thing and I am depending on you to see what 
they don’t see.” 

“ Detectives watching the house now! ” cried 
Mrs. Leslie, “ I should say this isn’t a blue Mon¬ 
day. I am thrilled indeed to be in the midst of 
a mystery. Hurry up and get off, girls, so I 
can get out in the back yard and see what I see.” 

“ Now, Mother, don’t overdo it,” cautioned 
Mary. 

“ Me overdo it! ” said Mrs. Leslie, indignantly. 
“ I know exactly how to behave under the cir¬ 
cumstances. I am going to run in and out with 
pillows and blankets and carry out one slat at a 
time and put mattresses in the windows and let 
them fall in the yard. I just wish you and Josie 
could see me.” 

“ I wish we could,” laughed Josie. “ I am 
sure you are going to do it splendily and I am 
so glad you are interested in it. I just know 
you will beat all the police in Wakely in helping 
to bring these crooks to justice.” 

The girls were hardly out of the house when 


174 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

Major Simpson was calling Mrs. Leslie on the 
telephone. The dear lady had not bargained for 
such a development and it was with difficulty that 
she commanded her voice to answer the smug 
old man as she knew he must be answered. She 
was sorry she had not asked instructions from 
Josie on how to meet such an emergency, but 
Major Simpson took matters in his own hands 
and there was little for her to say but yes and 
no. 

“ And how is my one time neighbor this morn¬ 
ing? I hope she is well.” 

“ Yes, thank you! ” 

“ Has that artful young person left your 
house? ” 

“ Yes! ” 

“ And she is going to return to her labors at 
Burnett & Burnett’s? ” 

“ Yes! ” 

“ What did she say concerning the article in 
the paper yesterday? You saw it, did you not? ” 

“ Yes! ” 

“ It was unfortunate that it should have been 
published but newspapers are ever on the alert 
for just such stories; human interest, you know.” 

“ Yes! ” 


Mrs . Leslie Turns Detective 175 

“Was the artful person angry at the publicity 
given the matter? ” 

“ No! ” 

“ What did she say? ” 

“ I can’t remember exactly, but I think she 
said 1 Gee.’ ” 

“ Of course I shall be for dismissing the young 
person, but Mr. Theodore Burnett evidently 
thinks otherwise. These young men think they 
know it all, but I have not dealt with crime all 
these years without acquiring some knowledge of 
the youthful criminals. There is no reforming 
them. Well, Miss Polly, I thank you for coop¬ 
erating so wonderfully with me in this matter. 
And you are not angry that the story — er — er 
— concerning the coffee and doughnuts and er — 
er — the pink parasol should have leaked out? ” 

Mrs. Leslie’s: “ Old idiot! ” slipped out be¬ 
fore she knew it but Major Simpson’s: “ What? 
What? ” brought her to her senses and she cov¬ 
ered her retreat with a cough and smoothed 
things down by: “ Old intimate friends,” hop¬ 
ing that intimate and idiot might sound more or 
less alike over a telephone. 

“ Of course you will not let this young person 
remain under your roof,” the Major proceeded. 


176 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

“ I feel in a measure er — er — responsible for 
you, Miss Polly, and hope you will allow me to 
dictate to you to some extent. This young woman, 
even though Mr. Theodore Burnett is so soft 
hearted as to keep her in the employ of his firm, 
is hardly a fit person to associate with you or 
your — er — er —charming daughter — because I 
am sure she is charming if she is your daughter. 
I wish you would promise me that this 0 ’Gorman 
person will not remain in your home another 
night.” 

Mrs. Leslie hung up the receiver with a click. 
She was possessed with a fury against the inter¬ 
fering Major that made it impossible to continue 
the conversation although all that it entailed at 
her end was a monosyllabic reply. She could 
well picture him at the other end of the line, in¬ 
dignantly upraiding the telephone operator for 
having so rudely cut him off. Her bell rang again 
sharply but she scorned answering it and went 
about her combined business of bed airing and 
female sleuthing with added vigor. 

“Miserable old man that he is! Wants me 
to turn a girl out in the street just because he 
has made up his mind she is a thief. I don’t feel 
bad any longer about hoodwinking the old idiot. 


Mrs. Leslie Turns Detective 177 

He is narrow and mean or he wouldn’t ask me 
to do it.” 

Josie was right in her guess—Madame Kam- 
bouirian did not leave the house that day. She, 
too, found many things to busy her on that bright 
Monday. Much sorting and airing seemed to 
be going on in the apartment next to the Leslies. 
Several times Mrs. Leslie looked up from her la¬ 
bors and saw the pleasant, plump countenance of 
Mrs. Kambourian peering at her from the open 
window. Once she nodded and a cheerful “ Good 
•mor-r-rning, ” was the response. 

“ A nice day for preliminary spring cleaning,” 
ventured Mrs. Leslie. 

“ Ver-r-ry nice,” said the neighbor, placing a 
silver fox scarf and a sealskin jacket on the win¬ 
dow sill where the sun could shine upon them. 

“ You are not expecting moths this soon are 
you? ” queried Mrs. Leslie. 

“ Moths? You mean the cr-r-eatures that feed 
upon the fur-r and wool? Ah, Heaven forbid! 
I merely sun my things because I love the sun 
and then it is war-r-m and I may not need them 
now for many months. I pack them up per-r- 
haps.” 

Through the open window Mrs. Leslie could 


178 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

see a large packing box and a wardrobe trunk. 

“ Getting ready to leave! It looks to me as 
though Josie should know this,” she said to her¬ 
self. Preston 11 was immediately called for by 
the eager amateur detective and Mr. Theodore 
Burnett put on the line. 

“ This is Mrs. Leslie, Mr. Burnett, Josie 
0’Gorman’s friend. Please tell her the foreign¬ 
ers next door to us are getting ready to move 
and the woman is sunning a silver fox scarf and 
a sealskin jacket, both of them too good for any¬ 
body living in this house to use. I haven r t any 
good furs of my own but I can tell them a mile 
off.” 

Mr. Theodore Burnett smiled and made a note 
of the fact that the amateur lady detective had 
no furs but knew good ones a mile off. This 
was the same lady of whose judgment in the mat¬ 
ter of dry goods Major Simpson had spoken so 
highly, knowing from the first that Josie O’Gor- 
man’s clothes were of material too good to have 
been bought from the salary of a novice at the 
notion counter. 

“ Clever lady! ” he muttered in an aside 
“ Must keep her in mind.” He thanked her pro¬ 
fusely for the information and begged her to keep 


Mrs. Leslie Turns Detective 179 

a sharp lookout through the day. “ The evi¬ 
dence you have gathered is invaluable, my dear 
lady,” he assured her. 

“ The window is open and I can see a large 
packing box and a wardrobe trunk and this Kam- 
bourian woman is folding and packing as fast 
as she can. I gossiped with her a moment, quite 
casually, and she told me herself she was think¬ 
ing of moving. You’d best tell Josie right off.” 

“ You are right! Thank you, and good bye! ” 

Mr. Burnett had just hung up the receiver when 
Major Simpson came bustling into the office. 

“ Ah, Mr. Theodore, and how are you this nice 
sunny morning? Spring in the air, my boy, 
spring! I have come to see you concerning this 
O’Gorman person. Singular case — quite singu¬ 
lar! She is actually working behind the notion 
counter this morning quite as though nothing had 
happened — not at all abashed — but meek withal, 
meek and I must say modest. She dropped her 
eyes when I passed and had occasion to stoop 
and hide her head. Modest, quite modest! I feel 
more inclined to deal gently with one who shows 
becoming modesty.” 

Mr. Burnett could not help a sly smile but he 
controlled himself and said rather sternly: 


180 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

“ Major Simpson, I ask you to let me do what 
dealing is necessary with Miss O'Gorman, in fact, 
I ask you most emphatically." 

This was as near as either of the Burnett 
brothers had ever come to commanding the old 
gentleman whom they had so unwillingly inher¬ 
ited from their predecessors, but Mr. Theodore 
Burnett had no intention of letting Major Simp¬ 
son mix himself up in the matter of Josie O'Gor¬ 
man and her methods any more than possible. 

“ Certainly! " said the elderly detective, 
stifflly. “ I have never been one to overstep au¬ 
thority, but I feel it is my duty to warn you, 
young and untried, against the machinations of a 
type like this O'Gorman person." 

“ All right, Major Simpson, I am warned — 
and now I shall go and interview the young lady.'' 

“ Do not be too easy on her," insisted the de¬ 
termined Major u I am— " But what he was 
Mr. Burnett did not wait to hear. He felt that 
Josie must be told immediately of the silver fox 
scarf and fur coat sunning in the rear window 
at Number 11 Meadow Street, and of the large 
packing box and wardrobe trunk and of Mrs. 
Leslie 's gossip. He was in the elevator and mak- 


Mrs. Leslie Turns Detective 181 

ing for the street floor of the store before the 
Major’s sentence was completed. 

All was as Major Simpson had reported. 
There was Josie O’Gorman conducting herself 
as though nothing had happened, selling tapes 
and pins with as much industry as she would 
have shown had her living depended upon it. 

At the jewel novelty counter across the aisle 
Miss Fauntleroy moved with deliberate grace, 
totally unconscious of the fact that the sandy 
haired little person with the unimportant counte¬ 
nance, who seemed so busy making unimportant 
sales of bone buttons and shoe laces, never once 
let the haughty beauty get out of her line of 
vision. 


CHAPTER XVII 


THE GIRL, IN THE RED TAM 

There was an undercurrent of excitement at 
Burnett & Burnett’s on that sunny Monday morn¬ 
ing. Every clerk in the store had either read or 
heard of the article in the Sunday paper. There 
was much conjecture as to the identity of the 
beauty who had purloined the goods and then re¬ 
turned them to Mr. Burnett. 

“ It sounds like they were talking about me, ,, 
said Gertie Wheelan, patting her permanent wave 
complacently. 6 1 That is, all but me being a thief. 
Min knows I never took a bunch of lace off her 
counter because when she missed it I was stand¬ 
ing right here by her.” 

“ Of course I know you didn’t, Gertie,” laughed 
Min, “ but the fact that you were standing near 
me when I missed it isn’t very good evidence 
that you didn’t take it. I reckon your character 
is about the best evidence that you didn’t take 
it. You are a vain old goose, Gertie, but every- 
182 


The Girl in the Red Tam 183 

body knows you are as honest as you are vain, 
and that is going some.” 

Gertie did not know whether to be compli¬ 
mented or not, but since it was pleasanter to be 
flattered than to be censured she decided to be 
flattered. 

“ I’ve a great mind to ask old Simp who it 
was,” whispered Min. 

“ I already did that,” put in Jane Morton, 
“ and he had the cheek to pretend he did not 
know what I was talking about. You see no 
names are mentioned in the paper. He hummed 
and hawed and stuck out his chest and patted his 
white waistcoat and said: * Really, my dear 
young lady, I cannot conjecture er — er ’ and he 
swelled up a little more and went on: ‘ Of course 
I cannot deny that I know what is going on in 
this establishment, but prudence compels me to 
dissemble er — er — to dissemble . 9 9 9 

The girls all laughed at Jane’s droll mimicry. 

“ Have you had a chance to ask Josie O’Gor. 
man what she thinks! ” asked Min. “ Josie is 
a mighty wise little girl and I betcher she has 
her own thinks on this subject just as she has 
on every other.” 

“ Yes, I asked her,” replied Jane, “ and she 


184 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

just laughed and said maybe she was the wicked 
beauty her own self. She said she might as well 
be because old Simpson had never taken his eye 
off her the whole morning. Sure enough, there 
the old fellow was, circling around the notion 
counter glaring all the time at Josie. I don’t 
see how she stands it. I’d have to call him down 
and either make him quit his foolishness or offer 
some explanation. Josie went on making sales 
and paid no attention to him except once when 
he came close up to her she ducked under the 
counter so she could relax into a giggle.” 

The girls had met for a moment near the cash¬ 
ier’s desk. Similar groups were forming and 
breaking through the entire building. 

“ Who do you think it is! ” was asked again 
and again. 

Now and then some know-all would make a 
positive assertion such as: “ I know on good 
authority who it is but I am not at liberty to 
divulge the name.” 

“Look!” and Min nudged Jane Morton. 
“ There’s Mr. Theodore Burnett talking to Josie 
O’Gorman. Old Simpson has left the floor. I 
saw him going up on the elevator. I wonder what 
our junior member wants with Josie. Look! She 


The Girl in the Red Tam 


185 


is evidently getting leave from the head of the 
department. Jiminy crickets! If she isn’t leav¬ 
ing with the boss! ” 

Min was right. Josie was leaving the floor 
with Mr. Theodore. The information Mrs. Leslie 
had telephoned must be treated seriously and 
without delay. The police must be warned and 
Josie felt the time had come for a search warrant 
to be issued on the Kambourians. She accompa¬ 
nied Mr. Burnett to his office and soon had the 
police station on the line. 

“ Any report from the detectives watching 11, 
Meadow Street? ” sLe asked. 

“ Nothing doing there! ” was the answer from 
the man at the desk. 

“ Well, I have inside information that the 
woman is packing up, so you better get a search 
warrant ready and keep a close watch on the 
premises,” she commanded. “ Don’t let the men 
leave their post for a moment.” 

‘ ‘ Hump! ’ ’ grumbled the police sergeant, 
“ anybody would think— ” But what anybody 
would think was lost on Josie who hung up the 
receiver with a click. 

“Asleep at the switch as usual!” she ex¬ 
claimed. ‘‘ But I must hurry back to my counter. 


186 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

I wish that old Major Simpson would get busy 
and help me instead of circling around me with 
his eyes hanging out on his cheeks.’’ 

44 Shall I make him stop! ” asked Mr. Burnett. 

44 Oh no, perhaps he is safer watching me than 
he would be helping me. Anyhow that Jimmy 
Blaine is on the job all right. He has been pop¬ 
ping in and out of the store all morning pretend¬ 
ing to buy socks and ties and matching ribbons 
for his imaginary wife. He is a clever lad. I 
have a notion I’d better give up selling things 
for a while if you will supply a girl for my 
counter.” 

44 Indeed, yes! ” agreed Mr. Theodore. 

When Josie did not return to her duties of 
selling notions the girls at the neighboring coun¬ 
ters commented on it. 

44 Do you reckon she’s been shipped! ” won¬ 
dered one. 

44 Hardly — she’s too good at the business and 
as regular as clock work.” 

44 It’s funny she went off with the boss and 
has been gone an age and no sign of her. I do 
hope she isn’t in any trouble. Look! There’s 
a green girl at the button counter! ” 

44 Whatcher reckon is the matter! That old 


The Girl in the Red Tam 


187 


Simp is at the bottom of it I betcher. He’s been 
bugging his eyes out at Josie for ever so long. 
Look, there he is back again. He looks worried 
over something.” Thus spoke Min, but her flow 
of eloquence was cut short by a customer de¬ 
manding to see some Irish lace. 

“ The best is none too good for me,” asserted 
the customer sharply. She was a young woman 
with bobbed black hair very much becurled, a 
mouth so painted it gave one the impression that 
she had been eating poke berries, cheeks to match 
not only lips but a string of red, red beads twisted 
several times around her throat and hanging to 
her waist. In her hand she carried a bright red 
swagger stick. Her hat — a red tarn — was worn 
far on one side. Brows and lashes were black¬ 
ened to match the blue black hair. 

‘ i Sure! 91 said Min demurely. ‘ ‘ The best is 
none too good but it may be too costly,” she 
muttered under her breath. 

“ Never mind the cost — that is my affair. Ah, 
this is very sweet,” she said, pulling out a bunch 
of the costly lace and spreading it out on the 
counter. “ But show me other widths and pat¬ 
terns. Have you any point d’esprit? ” 

“ No, we have no point d’esprit,” said Min 


188 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

with ill concealed impatience. Her lunch hour 
had struck and she felt it was hard lines to be 
forced to show this painted flapper expensive 
lace that she was sure she had no idea of buying. 

“ Some duchesse, too,” demanded the deter¬ 
mined shopper. “ Nothing better than that? ” 

Poor Min was forced to produce more and bet¬ 
ter lace. The counter was strewn with boxes of 
the priceless merchandise. Miss Fauntleroy was 
ready to go out for luncheon. She paused for a 
moment to speak to Min. All she said was: 

“ Is not the store clock slow? ” 

Min looked up from the lace she was showing 
the possible purchaser and compared her wrist 
watch with the large time piece hanging on the 
opposite wall. 

“ I guess not,” she said, and resumed her la¬ 
bors. 

Miss Fauntleroy proceeded leisurely towards 
the front door. The much made-up young person 
who had been so intent on lace, without one word 
to Min, turned and followed the haughty beauty. 
The aisles were crowded with shoppers but the 
bobbed haired, red mouthed flapper kept close 
behind Miss Fauntleroy. 

Outside in the sunshine the dark beggar with 


The Girl in the Red Tam 189 

a patch over one eye sat and in a wheedling tone 
besought the passers-by to buy his pencils. 

“ Ver-r-y fine — ver-r-y sharp—” he quav¬ 
ered. ‘ ‘ Buy — sweet lady — buy. * 9 His one eye 
had appeal enough for two. Many persons 
dropped coins in his outstretched hat. 

Miss Fauntleroy stopped in front of him. 

“Buy sweet lady — buy a pencil—” She 
stooped to select one from the box of red, white 
and blue pencils he held on his knees. From that 
moment astonishing things began to happen, both 
within and without the department store of Bur¬ 
nett & Burnett’s. 

Within a sudden hue and cry was raised by 
the distracted Min. 

“ Catch her! Catch her quick! ” she cried to 
Major Simpson who was still walking curiously 
and cautiously around the notion counter, as 
though he expected Josie to bob up at any mo¬ 
ment from behind the counter. 

“ Catch what? Catch whom? 99 

“ That girl with the bobbed black hair in a 
red tarn and red beads! ’ 9 screamed Min. ‘ i She’s 
‘klept’a whole bunch of lace — two bunches — 
maybe three — the finest in the shop. At least I 
reckon she did it. Go after her and get her. 


190 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

Don’t stand still. I can’t go myself because I’ve 
got to keep an eye on all this stuff. ’ ’ 

Major Simpson trotted obediently towards the 
front entrance. This was a new turn of affairs 
-—a shoplifter and not the elusive Josie. He 
bumped into Mr. Theodore Burnett in the aisle. 

“ Another thief! ” he spluttered. “ Girl with 
bobbed black hair and red beads. Lace again — 
front entrance — better come with me! ” 


CHAPTER XVIH 


JOSIE O’GORMAN^ VICTORY 

Outside tlie store even more stirring things 
were being enacted. When Miss Fauntleroy 
leaned over with the seeming intention of select¬ 
ing a pencil from the beggar’s box there had 
been a quick exchange of glances between the 
proud beauty and the one eyed mendicant, an 
exchange of glances and also the passing of a 
parcel which was slid from the wide, bell shaped 
sleeve of the young woman into the open breast 
of the man’s shabby coat. The movement was 
so rapid that no one who had not been on the 
lookout could possibly have seen it. But some¬ 
one was on the lookout and that one was no other 
than the flapper of the bobbed black hair and 
the red, red mouth. She did a very remarkable 
thing for a flapper. 

As quick as a flash she whipped out something 
from the pocket of her tweed suit, which, when 
one came to think of it, was of rather sober pat¬ 
tern for one so flapperish and not at all in keep- 
191 


192 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

ing with the red beads and startling tam. The 
article she drew from her pocket flashed in the 
sunlight for a moment and then — snap! snap! 
and a pair of handcuffs gleamed on the wrists 
of the one-eyed beggar before the astonished Miss 
Fauntleroy could straighten up from the selec¬ 
tion of a pencil. 

“ Don’t let him get away! ” came in command¬ 
ing tones from the mysterious flapper. The re¬ 
mark was addressed to none other than Jimmy 
Blaine, who had been pretending to be a corner 
masher during such moments as he could spare 
from the business of shopping for a highly ficti¬ 
tious family. 

“ Trust me! ” was his cheery rejoinder as he 
laid a heavy hand on the shoulder of the beggar 
who was now trembling like a leaf. 

The girl with the bobbed black hair then caught 
Miss Fauntleroy by the wrist, at the same mo¬ 
ment producing another pair of handcuffs from 
the capacious pockets of her tweed suit. She 
endeavored to snap them on the wrists of the 
struggling girl, but Miss Fauntleroy proved too 
strong, and jerking free, started to run. Swift 
as had been the action a crowd had gathered, as 
crowds will, and closing around the struggling 


193 


Josie 0’Gorman’s Victory 

pair cut off all avenues of escape. The black 
haired girl must have known something about 
the game of football for she made a flying leap 
and caught the taller girl in an iron grip. They 
swayed together and fell. 

In the scrimmage that ensued more startling 
things happened. Two hats came off, and with 
them two heads of hair. A red tarn and a bobbed 
black wig were torn from the flapper, disclosing 
the closely coiled sandy hair and well shaped 
head of none other than Josie O’Gorman. The 
elaborate coiffure belonging to Miss Fauntleroy 
also came off with the stylish picture hat. 

The combatants staggered to their feet. When 
Josie caught sight of her antagonist, standing 
hot, sullen and ashamed, so hemmed in by the 
crowd there was no escape, a wave of pity came 
over her. The proud and haughty Miss Fauntle¬ 
roy was only a poor misguided boy. The mar¬ 
celled wig with all its puffs and coils had turned 
a handsome lad into a beautiful young woman. 

“Gee!” was all Josie could say. “And I 
thought you were your own sister all the time. 
I hate to put handcuffs on you — won’t you come 
along without them? ” 

“ Yes — I’m through. The game’s up and I’m 


194 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

glad of it. I’ll go along with you all right.” 

Major Simpson, closely followed by Mr. Bur¬ 
nett, was trying to make his way through the 
crowd. He knew something was going on and 
his superior intelligence must be in demand. He 
also knew that lace had been stolen and that a 
person with black bobbed hair was the thief. It 
Was irritating that it was not Josie O’Gorman 
who had been caught in the act, but then, any 
thief was better than no thief at all. 

“ Here, let me through! I am a detective.” 

The word detective was an open sesame for 
him. The crowd divided and he and Mr. Burnett 
passed through to the scene of the fray. 

“ Some scene it was! ” Mr. Burnett described 
later on to his mother and sisters. “ There was 
little Miss O’Gorman, her suit all dusty and dis¬ 
hevelled, her hat gone and her face made up in 
the most absurd manner with blackened brows 
and painted lips. She had by the hand a young 
boy dressed as a girl. Handsome? Handsome 
as Hermes! Shame and anger were both de¬ 
picted on his countenance, and his head, with its 
dark, closely cropped curls, was hung in deep 
dejection. On the pavement wigs and hats were 
so much in evidence that one might have thought 


195 


Josie 0’Gorman’s Victory 

there had been a battle royal and both fighters 
had been decapitated. I had no idea who the 
youth was at first, not recognizing ‘ Miss Faun- 
tleroy * without her wig. Miss 0’Gorman’s fa¬ 
mous string of red beads had broken and were 
scattered all over the pavement. It looked to 
me like a million beads, some of them as big as 
bantam eggs.” 

Major Simpson, acting true to form, broke into 
the ring blustering as usual. 

“ What’s all this? ” he demanded. Not recog¬ 
nizing Josie with her bizarre make-up or Miss 
Fauntleroy without her wig, the old gentleman 
stood gazing at the pavement. He suddenly re¬ 
membered Min’s words: “ Black bobbed hair 
and red tarn.” He stooped and picked up Josie’s 
wig and hat. It looked as though a tragedy had 
just been enacted at the front entrance of Bur¬ 
nett & Burnett’s. 

“ Who has done this thing? ” he asked sol¬ 
emnly, glaring all around. 

“ I reckon I did,” laughed Josie. 

u I’ll say she did! ” exclaimed Jimmy Blaine, 
who was still clinging to the handcuffed beggar. 

At Josie’s words Major Simpson looked at her 
more closely and through the paint recognized 


196 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

the dangerous criminal, Miss Josie O’Gorman. 
Just then a policeman pushed his way through 
the crowd. 

“ Officer, arrest this woman,” commanded Ma¬ 
jor Simpson officiously, pointing an accusing fin¬ 
ger at the grinning Josie. “ I fancy, madam, 
you will find this no laughing matter when you 
are safely behind bars.” 

“Yes, yes! She is the culprit!” cried the 
handcuffed beggar. “ Good Mr. Officer, let me 
loose. I have done nothing but sit here trying 
in my poor-r way to make a living selling the 
pencils — and see, I am a good American, because 
I sell only the red, white and blue of our flag.” 

“ Do your duty, officer,” insisted Major Simp¬ 
son. ‘ ‘ Arrest this young woman. She is a shop¬ 
lifter and depraved beyond belief for one so er 
— er — young.” 

“ And beautiful,” smirked the irrepressible 
Josie. She then turned to the officer, all levity of 
manner falling from her. “I am detective Josie 
O’Gorman, Sergeant Fagan. I have just caught 
this boy red-handed. Open his father’s coat and 
you will find a heap of costly lace which has been 
stolen from Burnett & Burnett within the last 
few minutes. I’ll turn this youth over to you. 


Josie 0 ’Gorman’s Victory 197 

I am sure his case is one for the juvenile court 
to deal with. The father, who goes by the name 
of Kambourian and lives at 11 Meadow Street, 
is the one to arrest.” 

The lace was found just as Josie had said, 
three bunches of it hidden in the ragged coat of 
the patch eyed beggar. The patrol wagon was 
called and father and son were carried off, Kam¬ 
bourian loudly asserting his innocence in spite 
of the lace found in his manly bosom. He de¬ 
clared to the end that he had no idea how it had 
got there. 

“I’ll follow as soon as I can wash my face,” 
Josie whispered to Sergeant Fagan. “ Keep a 
close watch on the old bird. I believe the young 
one, poor fellow, is glad the thing has broken 
and I fancy you’ll have no trouble with him.” 

Mr. Burnett had been a silent witness to the 
encounter between Josie and Major Simpson—si¬ 
lent and amused. He had promised Josie to let 
her manage the affair and he had done so, al¬ 
though he had been sorely tempted to step in and 
interefere when the self satisfied old gentleman 
had so peremptorily commanded the policeman 
to arrest the little detective. Now he wondered 
what stand Major Simpson would take and for 


198 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

a moment felt sorry for the hereditary employee 
of the firm of Burnett & Burnett. He need not 
have wasted his sympathy, however, as that gen¬ 
tleman’s self esteem was proof against any shook. 
He immediately took possesion of the stolen lace 
as though he, and he alone, had been responsible 
for its recovery. 

“ Ah, yes, I was sure we could track down the 
criminal. A little patience and eternal vigilance 
and lo, the thief is caught! ” 

“ Exactly! 99 said Josie, “ but not always the 
right thief.” 

“ Patience, I say, patience and astuteness will 
unravel any mystery,” continued Major Simpson, 
ignoring Josie’s remark. “ You will remember, 
Mr. Burnett, that I said from the beginning that 
Miss O’Gorman was not what she seemed. You 
will grant me that, eh? ” And thus did the old 
man talk on and on, seeming actually to feel that 
it was his cleverness that had caught the shop¬ 
lifters. 

The net had closed around the Kambourians — 
husband, wife and son. The search warrant re¬ 
vealed a great store of stolen articles, taken not 
only from Burnett & Burnett’s but from almost 
every shop in Wakely; dainty, choice articles, just 


Josie 0’Gorman’s Victory 199 

the kind with which to stock a novelty shop, which 
had been Madame Kambourian’s ambition. 

“ We had only just acqui-r-r-ed enough 
things,’’ she wailed after she and her husband 
were sentenced to a term in the penintentiary. 
“ And I would have been all moved and away if 
that bad, bad per-r-son had not warned the au- 
thor-r-ities that I was planning to flit. Such a 
kind looking per-r-son too! But one nevair-r-e 
can tell who is false.” 

Be it said in favor of Kambourian, the 
man, that his deepest concern was for “ poor 
Mamma ” and his chief regret that she should 
not have escaped. 

“ If she had only told us that the young lady 
had bought the paper in which the articles of 
value were twisted we would have been more care¬ 
ful,” he said to Jimmy Blaine, who interviewed 
him for the great soul stirring scoop. “ She 
merely said the lace and things had been lost. 
We had no knowledge how and we did not ques¬ 
tion poor Mamma too closely because we are al¬ 
ways so tender of her. She is so gay and we did 
so hate to make her sad. This beggar’s life was 
hard on poor Mamma — to sit all day and whine 
for pennies when she loved so to live and be 


200 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

happy. And clothes — ah mon Dieu, how poor 
Mamma does love to dress up — yes — yes — I, 
too, like the life. Ah me! All that is to be post¬ 
poned — but perhaps — some day — ’ 7 

The boy, Roy, was taken before the juvenile 
court where the wise young judge listened to all 
Josie had to tell him of the unfortunate environ¬ 
ment in which he had been raised. She told of 
the conversation she had overheard through the 
open window and of the boy’s evident reluctance 
to proceed in the dishonest course mapped out 
for him by his parents. 

“ Yes,” the boy told the judge, “ I have hated 
it always, but because I had the knack of mimicry 
and could pass myself off for a girl I was forced 
to wear those fool clothes and pretend I was 
1 Miss Fauntleroy.’ I despised myself all the 
time, despised myself and began to despise them, 
I mean my mother and father, although they did 
love me and were always kind to me except that 
they made a thief of me. Of course if I was go¬ 
ing to be a thief I determined to be the very clev¬ 
erest thief in the business, and if it had not been 
for you, Miss O’Gorman, I believe I could have 
been. Anyhow I am glad it is all over and I’m 
going to be as straight now as I used to be 


201 


Josie O’Gormcm’s Victory 

crooked. All I want is a chance. Gee, I’m glad 
to be able to wear pants all the time! I never 
have been a sissy, and many is the time I felt 
like jumping in the river when I had to wear those 
silly skirts and picture hats. It was poor Mam¬ 
ma’s fault. Not that I blame her, for she did 
so want to have a nice little shop of her own and 
dress up in pretty things. She always said when 
once we got together enough things we would go 
into a real business and stop stealing. Poor 
Mamma! I wish I could do something for her.” 

Josie thought that a prison term might do more 
for poor Mamma than anything else. At least 
it might teach her that honesty was the best pol¬ 
icy for her to pursue in the future. 

A chance was given Roy. The judge of the 
juvenile court sent him to an industrial school 
where it would be possible for him to work out 
his own salvation. He was as a brand snatched 
from the burning and, by God’s grace, snatched 
in time. Josie was sorry for the youth and Mary 
Leslie wept many tears in her pity. 

“ He was so handsome,” she sobbed. 

“ He still is,” consoled Josie, “ and now it 
can be ‘ Handsome is as handsome does,’ as my 
father used to say. This thing broke just in time 


202 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

to save that poor boy from becoming a confirmed 
criminal. As it is, I bet anything be’ll pull 
through and come out of that school a good fellow 
and a useful citizen. He is interested in the stage 
and I hope he’ll do something big in the dra¬ 
matic line some day. The way he acted Miss 
Fauntleroy was little short of genius.” 

“ Perhaps he’ll come out all right,” said Mrs. 
Leslie, “ but I have my doubts about foreigners. 
Anyhow I am glad we took you to board, Josie, 
because it has made life much more interesting. 
Just to think of Mr. Burnett’s writing me a let¬ 
ter of thanks for the part I took in helping to 
catch that woman! Of course I appreciate the 
handsome check he sent me and the fur jacket 
he sent Mary, but I think more of the letter than 
I do of the check and the jacket. After all, the 
detective tales I have read did something for 
me, if only to make me keep my eyes open for 
mix-ups.” 

Major Simpson decided after due consideration 
to accept Burnett & Burnett’s offer of a pension 
and he determined to retire from the active labors 
of a detective. 

“ Of course this is a good time to retire, while 
I am yet in the hey-dey of my powers,” he was 


203 


Josie O’Gorman’s Victory 

heard to say to Miss Willie at Maison Blanche. 
Mrs. Trescott was the person who heard him say 
it and it was with difficulty that she controlled 
her merriment. “ I have just been the means 
of tracking down for my firm a family of des¬ 
perate criminals and — er — er — out of grati¬ 
tude to me the Burnett Brothers have offered to 
pension me on — er — er — full pay.” 

“ How wonderful! ” trilled Miss Willie. “ But 
you will remain in Wakely, surely? ” 

“ Ah, yes! In fact I should not like to go far 
from Burnett & Burnett's because they may need 
my advice at any moment. My advice — er — er 
— is most important.” 

Josie had made many friends at Burnett & 
Burnette, and they were one and all very sorry 
that she was leaving the notion counter and 
Wakely. 

“ We felt all the time that you were a little 
different,” Jane Morton told her. “ Min and 
I used to talk about it, but we just thought you 
had picked up more education than we had and 
that was what made you different. If we had 
ever known that you were a detective we might 
have been a little shy. But we have learned that 
a woman detective may also be a human being. 


204 Josie amd the Meddlesome Major 

As for that i Miss Fauntleroy,’ my blood boils 
when I think of her — him. Anyhow we never 
did have much to do with him because we always 
mistrusted her — er — him. She never did seem 
natural and now since she has turned out to be 
a boy, I see the reason. One thing to his credit, 
he was a gentleman, even when masquerading as 
a girl, and never tried to get chummy with us. 
I feel a little sorry for him and hope he will turn 
out all right.’’ 

That night Josie accepted Mr. Theodore Bur¬ 
nett’s insistent invitation to take dinner at his 
home. There was no longer any good reason 
for refusal, though in truth she sought no such 
reason. 

Never was there a gayer, livelier party. Mr. 
Burnett’s sisters, May and Lily, vied with one 
another in little acts of gracious hospitality, and 
the aged mother, austerely garbed in a volumin¬ 
ous black dress, gave the lie to her years and her 
garb as fires kindled in her deep set eyes at the 
retelling of the capture of the shoplifters. Mr. 
Theodore was high in his praise and colorful in 
his narration. 

Josie, vivacious enough in other matters, had 
little to say concerning her latest exploit, having 


Josie 0’Gorman’s Victory 205 

learned from her father that modesty and justifi¬ 
able pride are becoming handmaidens. 

“ Now, Miss 0’Gorman,” said Mr. Theodore 
when the dinner was over, “ let us come back to 
a matter of business. You know how we appre¬ 
ciate your efforts and how valuable your services 
have been to our firm. However, it is hardly 
to be hoped that this will definitely stop all shop¬ 
lifting. When the story has cooled, the whole 
wretched business will flare up again. Through 
diplomacy we have succeeded in influencing Ma¬ 
jor Simpson to retire on full pay. No doubt he 
deserves it, for as my brother Charles points out, 
loyalty deserves reward, and the Major was cer¬ 
tainly loyal. Now we are in need of a house de¬ 
tective and we are willing to substantially in¬ 
crease the pay where results are as certain as 
mere loyalty. A-hem, the — the place is yours, 
Miss O’Gorman, if you will take it.” 

Before the astonished Josie could form a reply 
the aged mother broke in: 

“ I hope you will acept, and I want you to 
come here to live. This is a big house, plenty 
of room, and you will add a great deal of life to 
our colorless world. I have reared four children 
who have been successful in a matter-of-fact way. 


206 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

I feel that I would like to mother you — you with 
your startling ingenuity. Won’t you come! ” 

“ You simply must! ” chorused Lily and May. 
“ Please do. Just think of the things we could 
think up to do,” and they clapped their hands in 
anticipation. 

Josie was troubled. She appreciated the kind¬ 
ness; sensed its deep sincerity. But she knew 
her own spirit — knew that dull routine could not 
long hold her interest. 

“ I am sorry,” she began simply, “ but I must 
get back to Dorfield and my work. The Higgledy 
Piggledy Shop needs me, and somehow I seem 
to need it. Then, too, Captain Lonsdale writes 
me that there is work to do right away—a pe¬ 
culiar case that he thinks I can handle. I — I 
simply can’t tell you how I feel, but surely you 
will understand.” 

“I do,” nodded the mother. “ You are too 
big a girl for a little place. We will miss you, 
but I am glad that you are ambitious.” 

“ It isn’t ambition,” answered Josie, and a 
big tear stood in her eye. “It is a sort of trust, 
the carrying on of my father’s work.” 

“ Well, well,” boomed Mr. Theodore, vigor- 


207 


Josie O’Gornum’s Victory 

ously blowing his nose, “ you must not forget 
us. Some day you may feel like accepting the 
offer. It is an open one and may bring you back 
to Wakely.” 

“ Poof! ” protested Lily. ‘‘ As if she must 
wait for that to bring her back. She is going 
to visit us at least once every year and give us 
a complete account of herself — won’t you, 
Josie? ” 

“ I’d love to,” Josie answered quietly. 

She little realized what the coming year would 
bring and how thrilling would be that first ac¬ 
count. Some hint of it came to her a few days 
later when she reached Dorfield and called on 
Captain Lonsdale. The task put before her called 
for the best that was in her; an undertaking 
worthy of the efforts of her illustrious father. 

Sobered by the importance of the coming quest, 
she seemed to have lost some of her spontaneity 
when her friends, Irene and Mary Louise, rap¬ 
turously greeted her return to the Higgledy Pig- 
gledy Shop. 

“ My dear,” said Mary Louise a little later 
when the first warm gush of welcome was over, 
“ you have changed. You seem so quiet and — 


208 Josie and the Meddlesome Major 

and sort of sweetly pensive. I declare, Irene, I 
believe she is in love.” 

“ I am,” said Josie, comically wriggling her 
nose in her old manner, “ with my work.” 









AUG 1 9 1924 










































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































